Sulaimani security forces say arrested three foreigners over drug trafficking

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region Security Agency (Asayish) announced on Saturday the arrest of three foreign nationals accused of drug trafficking and the seizure of 12 kilograms of marijuana in two separate operations in Sulaimani and Erbil provinces.

Sulaimani’s General Security Directorate for Combating Narcotics, in coordination with Erbil’s anti-narcotics directorate and Iraq’s federal narcotics authorities, carried out the operations on May 21, according to a statement from the agency.

In the first operation, security forces arrested a foreign suspect in Sulaimani city after what Asayish described as “detailed investigations and surveillance.” Authorities seized 5.2 kilograms of marijuana from the suspect before later discovering another 5.5 kilograms hidden at his house in the Haji Omaran district in Erbil province near the Iranian border.

Erbil’s security forces were then contacted and confiscated the hidden drugs.

In a second operation on the same day, anti-narcotics forces and checkpoint security personnel arrested two other foreign suspects in Sulaimani province and seized 1.3 kilograms of marijuana from them. 

The three suspects, whose identities and nationalities have not been revealed, are currently detained under Article 25 of Iraq’s narcotics and psychotropic substances law, while investigations into their cases are ongoing, noted the agency.