‘Mastermind’ arrested in Iraq-Syria arms case
Shafaq News- Al-Anbar
Iraqi security forces detained a third suspect accused of directing a network behind a weapons shipment smuggled from Iraq through Syria toward Lebanon, a senior Al-Anbar security source told Shafaq News on Monday.
The source identified him as Ahmed Zaidan Khalaf Al-Jabri and said preliminary investigations indicated that he coordinated the operation. Iraqi forces had arrested two other suspects on Sunday.
Investigators are examining information that the shipment was loaded at an unidentified camp in Baghdad and that surveillance systems may have been disabled along routes used by three trucks carrying the cargo. The inquiry also covers possible links between several suspects and earlier drug and arms-smuggling operations between Iraq and Syria during former President Bashar Al-Assad’s rule, as well as the involvement of a broader cross-border network supporting armed groups.
On July 16, Syrian authorities reported intercepting missiles, drones, and other weapons concealed inside an oil tanker at the Al-Tanf crossing with Iraq, claiming the shipment was intended for Hezbollah in Lebanon –an allegation the group denied.
Read more: Baghdad starts investigating arms shipment smuggled toward Syrian border
