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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi security forces have arrested a human trafficking ring of 10 foreign nationals in Baghdad accused of kidnapping and torturing foreign workers for ransom, the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) said on Friday.
The INIS said that, in coordination with the interior ministry’s anti-human trafficking directorate, it arrested a “criminal network consisting of 10 foreign nationals residing illegally in the capital, Baghdad.”
The network “lured foreign citizens to Iraq under the pretext of providing them with job opportunities,” it added.
“They would then capture and torture the victims, document the torture, send the footage to their families, and demand a large financial ransom in exchange for their release,” the INIS said.
The arrests come as Iraqi authorities step up efforts to dismantle domestic and transnational human trafficking networks.
The interior ministry said in late June that authorities had rescued 94 trafficking victims, dismantled 48 trafficking rings and arrested 1,012 suspects.
In the first eight months of this year, the ministry documented 1,344 human trafficking cases and uncovered domestic and transnational networks operating through digital platforms.
The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR), an independent non-profit monitoring rights violations in Iraq, warned in mid-June that gaps in identifying victims and providing legal protections continue to undermine efforts to combat trafficking.
The Baghdad-based monitor said 385 trafficking victims were identified in Iraq in 2025, including 26 children who were sold.
It contrasted that figure with 5,107 people detained on trafficking-related charges, saying the disparity points to "a structural failure" in identifying and protecting victims.
