ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi and Kurdish anti-narcotic forces on Friday announced seizing over 50 kilograms of narcotics in Sulaimani in an operation which also resulted in the arrest of three suspected drug dealers.
“Based on an intelligence effort, active follow-up, and exchange of information for nearly two weeks, a dangerous international drug-trafficking network has been disbanded. These efforts have resulted in the arrest of three suspects and the seizure of 51 kilograms of crystal,” said the anti-narcotic forces in a joint statement.
Ahmed al-Zirgani, head of the Iraqi interior ministry’s directorate-general for narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances affairs, in a joint presser in Sulaimani lauded the ongoing coordination between the Iraqi and Kurdistan Region security forces to combat the spread of drugs, saying that the amount of narcotics seized in 2023 alone nearly equals the overall amount seized over the previous ten years.
Zirgani stressed the need for more cooperation between Iraq and other states in the region to combat the spread of narcotics “more effectively.”
Over 1,000 suspects have been arrested across the Region on drug-related charges this year, and more than 300 kilograms of narcotics have been seized, according to official data.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, during a conference on combating the drug trade last month, said that the Region is “seriously and widely working to eradicate and combat” the threat of drugs, and called on the Kurdish and international community to cooperate with Erbil to eliminate the source of what he described an “endemic” problem.
In Iraq, over 16,000 suspects have been arrested and more than 3.5 tons of narcotics and 15 tons of psychotropic pills have been seized since the start of 2023.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani in July ordered the establishment of rehabilitation centers in all Iraqi provinces, excluding the Kurdistan Region, as part of his cabinet’s commitment to combating growing drug trade and use as seriously as the country fights terrorism.
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