Iraq arrests +1,150 in Diyala drug crackdown

Shafaq News/ Iraqi authorities have arrested more than 1,150 individuals in Diyala as part of an intensified crackdown on drug trafficking, a senior official revealed on Monday.

Brig. Gen. Muthanna Latif Hantoush, head of the province’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate, confirmed at a local conference that recent operations dealt heavy blows to drug networks, resulting in the seizure of 104 kilograms of narcotics and the prosecution of hundreds of suspects.

“Judicial rulings have been issued against 538 individuals, ranging from one-year sentences to life imprisonment, along with financial penalties,” he stated.

Separately, a court in Dhi Qar sentenced a convicted drug trafficker to 12 years in prison and imposed a fine of $11,500, under Article 28 of Iraq’s Anti-Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law No. 50 of 2017.

Drug-related crimes have surged across Iraq in recent years, with security officials and health experts warning of growing addiction rates and smuggling routes concentrated in southern and border provinces.