Iraq arrests 31 drug trafficking suspects, seizes 57 kilograms of narcotics

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi security forces arrested 31 suspected drug traffickers and seized 57 kilograms of narcotics during operations across the country and beyond its borders, the interior ministry said Wednesday, amid efforts to ramp up the anti-narcotics crackdown across the country.

“The Nineveh Narcotics Affairs Directorate executed a successful intelligence operation that extended beyond the Iraqi borders," the Iraqi interior ministry announced, framing the bust as a “heavy blow” to smuggling networks and underscoring the government's commitment to tracking down drug traffickers.
 
The operation “resulted in the seizure of 50 kilograms of crystal meth and the arrest of three suspects, including a foreign national," according to the statement. 

A 2024 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) identified Iraq as a "conduit" for drug smuggling, serving both as a destination and transit route for narcotics circulating between Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula and Europe.

To counter the trade, operations led by the Iraqi General Directorate for Narcotics Affairs have scaled to involve international coordination, establishing 36 liaison channels with foreign counterparts to strengthen intelligence sharing and field cooperation.

The interior ministry, in a separate announcement on Wednesday, said that its forces conducted several raids in Maysan province in late August, and "successfully dismantled 8 drug networks and arrested 28 suspects, including a foreign national.”

In the operation, security forces took down a "highly dangerous" Iraqi suspect wanted in several cases, who was found with 5 kilograms of narcotics. The ministry stated that "in total, these operations resulted in the seizure of 7 kilograms of narcotic substances.”

In late August, the Iraqi National Security Service (INSS) said its forces arrested 50 suspected drug traffickers and seized a narcotics manufacturing laboratory, pointing out that the operation also resulted in the seizure of over 2.5 kilograms of crystal meth and approximately 15,000 narcotic pills.

Iraq’s General Directorate for Narcotics Affairs on Sunday announced that 4,644 individuals have been sentenced for drug-related crimes since the start of the year, including 69 death sentences and 267 life sentences.

Authorities dismantled 304 local and 54 international networks during the campaigns. Additionally, the directorate carried out 21 external operations, established six contact points, and issued 43 international arrest warrants.

According to official figures, the Iraqi judiciary has handed down around 300 death sentences against major drug traffickers and network leaders, and 1,147 life imprisonment sentences - 20 years under Iraqi law - between late 2022 and late 2025. Those severe penalties accounted for the majority of the 2,318 total sentences issued in drug cases during that period.

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