Iraq’s Anti-drug crackdown nets key traffickers, breaks international smuggling links
Shafaq News/ Iraqi security forces arrested several high-profile drug traffickers across the country, disrupting smuggling networks that authorities say have ties to international crime rings.
On Tuesday, Baghdad Operations Command announced the capture of a narcotics ring operating in the Karkh district of the capital.
“A drug-dealing gang was arrested in the Iraqi Village area,” the command said in a statement, adding that “those detained, along with the confiscated drugs, were handed over to the relevant authorities for legal action.”
Iraqi law enforcement agencies have launched an array of operations targeting drug trafficking across multiple provinces, a campaign aimed at dismantling networks connecting Iraq to regional and international syndicates.
In Maysan province, Police Chief Lt. Gen. Lafta Fakher al-Hamdaoui recently revealed the arrest of a trafficker en route from Basra. “One kilogram of crystal meth was seized from the suspect,” Hamdaoui said, adding that the arrest was based on "precise intelligence." The suspect now faces charges under Article 28 of Iraq’s penal code.
Last month, a court in Najaf sentenced a convicted drug kingpin to death for smuggling over one million narcotic pills from Syria into Iraq, later funneling part of the haul to Kuwait via Basra. "The sentence was issued under Article 27 of the Anti-Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law," a security source told Shafaq News.
Meanwhile, in a separate operation, the Karkh Drug Control Directorate intercepted 100 kilograms of captagon pills in northern Iraq. In collaboration with Erbil’s anti-drug units, they apprehended an international smuggler of foreign nationality. “This was a significant blow against the smuggling trade,” remarked Director of Public Relations Hussein al-Tamimi, calling it a "high-level operation" under Iraq’s national anti-drug campaign.
In Al-Anbar province, the Iraqi National Security Service detained a prominent drug dealer in Ramadi, seizing 6,000 captagon pills. The service also reported arresting two traffickers in Basra who admitted to smuggling drugs from neighboring countries and working with regional gangs.
Kirkuk Police reported the capture of a major trafficker in central Kirkuk following an armed confrontation with the Azadi Police Criminal Unit. Authorities said the operation led to two injuries in Baghdad, linked to the increasing violence associated with Iraq's evolving drug trade.
