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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi security forces have arrested multiple drug suspects across Baghdad and other provinces in coordinated operations that led to the seizure of thousands of narcotic pills and other drugs, including a major bust in the capital where military intelligence forces detained a dealer in possession of 14,000 Captagon pills, a high military official said on Saturday.
“At the time of his [the drug dealer's] arrest in central Baghdad, the dealer had 14,000 Captagon pills in his possession, which have been seized,” Haider Mohammed, spokesperson for Iraqi military intelligence, told Rudaw's Nahro Mohammed, adding that the operation was conducted based on “precise intelligence and continuous surveillance” by the intelligence and security department of the sixth infantry vivision.
He added that the suspect was wanted under Article 28 of the Narcotic Drugs Law, noting that he, along with the seized materials, had been handed over to judicial authorities.
Iraq remains both a destination and a transit route for narcotics. A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime describes the country as a “conduit” for drug flows between Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Europe, while highlighting a surge in Captagon trafficking from Syria and rising domestic consumption.
In late April, the Iraqi interior ministry said it had dismantled 1,538 trafficking networks since 2023, resulting in 349 death sentences and 1,325 life sentences issued by the Iraqi judiciary.
In a separate operation on Friday, the Iraqi National Security Service (INSS) announced in a statement that it had arrested nine suspects in Baghdad and Basra in two coordinated security operations targeting drug trafficking networks.
According to the statement, two targeted security operations in Baghdad and Basra were conducted based on accurate intelligence. Following judicial authorization, the raids led to the arrest of nine suspects and the confiscation of one kilogram of narcotics, about 1,000 narcotic pills, and a firearm.
Abbas al-Bahadli, Interior Ministry spokesperson, told Rudaw on Saturday that forces in Maysan had arrested “one of the most dangerous foreign drug dealers,” who was found in possession of one kilogram of crystal meth.
In mid-June, Iraqi and Syrian anti-narcotics authorities announced the dismantling of an international drug trafficking network following joint operations inside Syria’s Homs and Deir ez-Zor provinces.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry’s anti-narcotics directorate said at that time its units “moved to execute a series of simultaneous operations inside Syrian territory” in coordination with Syrian counterparts, dismantling a network of nine major traffickers and seizing around 200 kilograms of various narcotics en route to Iraq.
In early May, the Iraqi intelligence service announced that it had thwarted an attempt to smuggle more than one million Captagon pills and 100 kilograms of hashish through Iraqi territory.
Cited by state media, the Iraqi National Intelligence Service said in a statement that the “members of the criminal network” were arrested in “several provinces” after their movements were tracked using “precise intelligence,” in coordination with security forces in Sulaimani.
According to data from the general directorate of narcotics control, as of early May this year, 37 people convicted in drug-related cases in Iraq have been sentenced to death, 173 have received life sentences, and 2,288 others have been given various prison terms.
