Gulf drug bust nets 150kg in Iraq

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi security forces seized 150 kilograms of various drugs and 21,000 Lyrica pills from two boats in Iraq’s territorial waters in the Gulf, arresting three suspects, including a foreign national, the General Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Affairs announced on Saturday.

The directorate said the operation followed intelligence from a neighboring country about suspicious maritime activity. Security forces tracked and intercepted one boat carrying two Iraqi suspects before locating a second vessel carrying the foreign suspect.

Iraqi authorities dismantled 378 drug-trafficking networks in the first half of 2026, including 59 international groups, and seized 1,977 kilograms and 522 grams of narcotics, according to Interior Ministry figures. Courts recorded 3,553 drug-related convictions during the same period.

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