ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq's federal Commission of Integrity announced on Wednesday that it has arrested six employees at a customs checkpoint in Kirkuk province on charges of extorting citizens and accepting bribes in exchange for processing customs transactions.
"Following investigation and surveillance, the operation resulted in the arrest of six employees at the 'Chiman' customs crossing," the commission said in a statement, adding that "they were caught red-handed while receiving bribes from a customs broker to facilitate and process paperwork."
The commission said the arrests were carried out during a coordinated operation by its Kirkuk investigation office and the Iraqi National Security Service (INSS) after investigators monitored the suspects' activities under a judicial warrant.
According to the statement, investigators set up what it described as a "tight ambush" before carrying out the arrests.
The latest operation comes weeks after the commission announced it had thwarted an attempt to fraudulently obtain around 1.5 trillion Iraqi dinars (approximately $1.15 billion) through forged checks and a fake deposit contract.
At the time, the commission said, "Seven forged checks, allegedly issued by al-Rashid and al-Rafidain banks, were seized for a total sum reaching approximately 1.5 trillion dinars (around $1.15 billion), issued in favor of the suspects."
It added that a forged deposit sale contract worth 612 billion Iraqi dinars (nearly $467 million) had been used as part of the scheme.
Despite gradual improvements in oversight and the digitization of financial services, corruption remains a major challenge in Iraq. The country ranked 136th out of 180 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, with a score of 28 out of 100.
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has pledged to make anti-corruption efforts a central part of his government's reform agenda.
"The path of reform may be difficult, but it is not impossible when intentions are united, and efforts are sincere," Zaidi said in his first official address after taking office last month.
