Shafaq News- Wasit/ Basra

Anti-narcotics forces in Iraq's Wasit province seized 12 kilograms of opium and arrested an Asian national after tracking the shipment from a smuggling network in a neighboring country, the Interior Ministry's General Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Affairs said on Thursday.

The directorate's Wasit units infiltrated the network abroad and followed the shipment's route, monitoring the movements of one of its members until he reached Iraqi territory, according to a statement. Once the shipment entered Iraq, the units set up an ambush and arrested the suspect with the opium in his possession.

The directorate did not name the neighboring country or give the suspect's nationality beyond describing him as Asian. Legal proceedings have begun against him, the statement said.

In the southern province of Basra, a central government committee for destroying narcotics disposed of about 85 kilograms of various drugs and 65,000 psychotropic pills, the Basra Health Directorate said. It also destroyed about 1,350 units of tropicamide eye drops and about 1,350 milliliters of precursor chemicals.

The destruction took place in the al-Haddama area of Umm Qasr district under the supervision of the Supreme Judicial Council, after legal review of the related cases was completed, according to the directorate.

Since 2023 and until July 2026, the Iraqi authorities have confiscated 16.8 tons of narcotics, secured 380 death sentences and 150 life sentences, and issued 190 international arrest warrants in drug-related cases. Baghdad has also established 16 rehabilitation centers for drug users, where about 9,500 people have received treatment. More than 8,000 have completed their rehabilitation programs.