ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s interior ministry said on Saturday that over 20 “major” drug dealers have been repatriated from neighboring and regional countries, stressing to continue the anti-narcotics fight as Baghdad scrambles to contain the drug trade.
“More than 20 major drug dealers from neighboring and regional countries have been repatriated, out of more than 100 dealers for whom Iraq has issued international arrest warrants,” Ziad Khalaf, head of media at the interior ministry’s narcotics and psychotropic substances directorate, told Rudaw.
“Work is underway to repatriate the others,” Khalaf stressed, pointing to a last month raid in Lebanon with Iraqi intelligence cooperation to bust one of the largest Captagon manufacturing facilities in the Middle East.
In recent years, Iraqi authorities have stepped up their fight against drug trafficking. The country, once mostly a transit route, has increasingly become a destination for narcotics - prompting alarm among officials and the public.
According to Khalaf, Iraq’s efforts to combat drugs have yielded “significant security results,” with 13 tons seized since 2023 and over 3.2 tons confiscated since the beginning of the year.
He noted that around 8,500 people in the country are currently facing drug charges.
In August, Khalaf lauded Iraq as a “regional leader” in combating drugs, saying that authorities continue providing intelligence on international drug networks to combat the phenomenon.
Iraq is placed third among 138 countries for combating drugs, according to World Police Summit rankings.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani in July 2023 ordered the establishment of rehabilitation centers in all Iraqi provinces, excluding the Kurdistan Region, as part of his cabinet’s stated commitment to combat the growing drug trade and use, as seriously as the country fights terrorism.
“More than 20 major drug dealers from neighboring and regional countries have been repatriated, out of more than 100 dealers for whom Iraq has issued international arrest warrants,” Ziad Khalaf, head of media at the interior ministry’s narcotics and psychotropic substances directorate, told Rudaw.
“Work is underway to repatriate the others,” Khalaf stressed, pointing to a last month raid in Lebanon with Iraqi intelligence cooperation to bust one of the largest Captagon manufacturing facilities in the Middle East.
In recent years, Iraqi authorities have stepped up their fight against drug trafficking. The country, once mostly a transit route, has increasingly become a destination for narcotics - prompting alarm among officials and the public.
According to Khalaf, Iraq’s efforts to combat drugs have yielded “significant security results,” with 13 tons seized since 2023 and over 3.2 tons confiscated since the beginning of the year.
He noted that around 8,500 people in the country are currently facing drug charges.
In August, Khalaf lauded Iraq as a “regional leader” in combating drugs, saying that authorities continue providing intelligence on international drug networks to combat the phenomenon.
Iraq is placed third among 138 countries for combating drugs, according to World Police Summit rankings.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani in July 2023 ordered the establishment of rehabilitation centers in all Iraqi provinces, excluding the Kurdistan Region, as part of his cabinet’s stated commitment to combat the growing drug trade and use, as seriously as the country fights terrorism.
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