Iraq’s 3-year anti-drug campaign: 1K+ drug-trafficking networks foiled
Shafaq News – Baghdad
More than 1,200 domestic and international drug-trafficking networks were dismantled over the past three years, with security forces seizing over 14 tons of narcotics, according to the Interior Ministry.
Ministry spokesman Col. Abbas al-Bahadli said during a joint press conference on Tuesday that the campaign operated “across three tracks: internal enforcement, international coordination, and rehabilitation programs for drug users.”
Official figures show 1,201 networks were broken up, including 1,030 domestic groups and 171 international cells, along with the confiscation of 14 tons and 20 kilograms of illegal substances. Courts issued 23,118 convictions, including 300 death sentences and 1,147 life terms.
The crackdown resulted in 274 armed clashes, leaving seven officers dead and 90 wounded, while drug gangs sustained 36 fatalities and 81 injuries. Security forces also seized 3,307 weapons and 4,462 vehicles used in trafficking.
Internationally, the ministry issued 140 arrest warrants and conducted nearly 40 monitored operations abroad through 33 liaison channels with partner states.
The ministry established 16 treatment facilities across 16 provinces outside the Kurdistan Region. These centers can accommodate 4,746 patients and have treated 6,022 individuals since their launch, with 1,228 currently receiving care.
Anti-Narcotics Directorate chief Gen. Ahmed al-Zarkani outlined several recent operations, including the arrest of 21 suspects and the seizure of 108 kilograms of narcotics in Baghdad’s Karkh district. Additional raids in Nineveh, Babil, Muthanna, and Basrah resulted in more than 150 kilograms of drugs seized and multiple arrests.
Cross-border coordination with Kuwait, Syria, and other regional states also led to the interception of Captagon, Lyrica, and large quantities of other synthetic pills destined for or moving through Iraq.
