Cross-Border drug operations reach 65 since 2023
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Daily raids across Baghdad, provincial cities, and border crossings have netted tens of thousands of suspects and dozens of tons of controlled substances in 2026, as Iraqi security forces press “an open war” against narcotics networks, according to the General Directorate for Narcotics Affairs and Psychotropic Substances at the Interior Ministry.
Security Operations
The directorate's Media and Public Relations Director, Col. Abbas al-Bahadli, told Shafaq News that the campaign marks a structural turning point for Iraqi counter-narcotics efforts. The directorate, he said, was previously composed of small units attached to police and intelligence services with limited capacity to confront the scale of the threat. The Interior Ministry has since expanded it into a standalone general directorate with a direct ministerial reporting line and a provincial field presence.
Operational strategy has also shifted, according to al-Bahadli. The directorate has moved from a containment phase to confrontation and pre-emptive operations, he said, adding that thousands of networks have been dismantled and the country's most significant traffickers arrested in recent years. Iraqi forces have conducted approximately 65 operations outside Iraq since 2023, coordinated with regional and international partners, with the stated aim of intercepting shipments before they reach Iraqi territory. The operations target local dealers, major traffickers, and cross-border smuggling rings beyond Iraqi territory.
“The external operations are the ministry’s broader strategy to block narcotics at their source.”
Smuggling methods have also grown more sophisticated, including the use of airborne balloons to cross the border —a technique documented in a recent operation in western al-Anbar province, where authorities intercepted a consignment of more than 198,000 narcotic tablets.
Read more: The Smuggler's Almanac: Iraq's war against narco-innovation
Rehabilitation and Social Dimensions
Alongside the security operations, Iraq has established 16 rehabilitation centers offering psychological, medical, and social treatment for addicts, including three in Baghdad, al-Bahadli said. More than 7,270 individuals have completed treatment and reintegrated into society since 2023.
A policy change separating addicts from traffickers in the custodial system was also cited as a significant procedural reform; previously, addicts were held alongside dealers in the prison population.
Al-Bahadli also pointed to price movements in the narcotics market as evidence of operational impact: crystal methamphetamine prices have risen from approximately 10,000 dinars ($7.63) per gram to around 200,000 dinars ($152.6), a shift he attributed to reduced supply resulting from sustained security pressure on distribution networks.
“Youth are the primary target demographic of narcotics networks,” al-Bahadli warned, with individuals between 16 and 40 years of age most at risk. He described the pattern as a deliberate effort to drain the country of its productive human capital.
Read more: From cell to center: Iraq tests a new answer to addiction
