Iraq breaks up 36 trafficking networks and arrests hundreds in Q1 2026

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq dismantled 36 organized crime networks involved in human trafficking, labor smuggling, and organ trade in the first quarter of 2026, the Interior Ministry revealed on Wednesday.

Ministry spokesperson Colonel Abbas Al-Bahadli said at a press conference that security forces broke up 21 sexual exploitation networks and arrested 243 suspects. Authorities also dismantled seven labor smuggling networks with 344 arrests and seven child trafficking networks with 16 arrests.

One organ trafficking network was uncovered, with seven suspects detained in operations spanning inside and outside Iraq.

Operations, Al-Bahadli added, would continue as part of a broader strategy targeting cross-border organized crime.

Trafficking remains widespread, with more than 221,000 people affected, according to International Organization for Migration, while Iraq serves as both a source and destination country. Recent data also show rising cases in parts of the Kurdistan Region, including a near doubling of organ trafficking incidents in 2024.

Read more: 2.3K lives lost: Iraq's grim toll of human trafficking