Nearly 2 tons of narcotics seized in Iraq since January: Ministry

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s interior ministry on Sunday announced that nearly 2 tons of narcotic substances have been seized across the country since January, with authorities continuing to battle the spread of drug use in the country. 

“During six months of the current year 2024, we were able to seize narcotic substances amounting to 1 ton and 822 kilograms,” ministry spokesperson Miqdad Miri told a press conference. 

There has been an alarming rise in drug dealing and use in Iraq in recent years, despite strict measures taken by the government to combat the phenomenon.

“The seized materials include crystal, captagon, heroin, tramadol, hashish, opium, and cocaine,” Miri said, revealing that the amount was a four percent decrease compared to the same period in 2023.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has ordered the establishment of rehabilitation centers in all Iraqi provinces, excluding the Kurdistan Region, as part of his cabinet’s commitment to combat drugs with the same determination as it fights terrorism.

In 2023, more than 19,000 people were arrested across Iraq on drug-related charges and over 15 tons of psychotropic substances were seized. 

At least 17 drug suspects were killed in clashes with security forces in 2023, according to the Iraqi interior ministry.

Earlier this month, Iraqi police arrested ten drug dealers and dismantled a drug-trafficking network in the southern impoverished province of Diwaniyah. 

In a quadrilateral meeting in Amman in mid-February, the interior ministers of Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon agreed to establish a joint communications cell to keep up cooperation on addressing the alarming rise of narcotics in their countries.