ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s interior ministry said Monday that coordination with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in counter-narcotics operations has reached unprecedented levels, as authorities continue joint efforts to tackle drug trafficking across the country.
"There is an unmatched and productive coordination between the [Iraqi] Border Forces Command and Peshmerga forces,” Abbas al-Bahadli, spokesperson for Iraq's interior ministry, told Rudaw, adding that a joint operations room includes officers from the federal interior and defense ministries as well as the Kurdistan Region’s security agencies.
Iraqi authorities have stepped up efforts to combat narcotics trafficking in recent years. Once primarily a transit route, Iraq has increasingly become a destination for drugs, raising alarm among officials and the public. Baghdad and Erbil have formed joint teams to counter drug trafficking and have conducted coordinated anti-narcotics operations.
Bahadli said that “in coordination with the narcotics directorates and Kurdistan Region intelligence, we were able to arrest a large number of narcotics traffickers and foreign worker smugglers,” adding that the cooperation “has filled the security gaps in mountainous areas."
Iraq remains a major destination and transit route for drug trafficking.
The interior ministry on Monday also announced the establishment of three new international contact points with Germany, Australia, and Nigeria, bringing the total number of cross-border coordination channels in the fight against drug trafficking to 36.
In the first quarter of this year, authorities seized 1,307 kilograms of narcotic substances and worked with the judiciary to issue 2,020 rulings, including 34 death sentences and 137 life sentences, the interior ministry spokesperson said Monday.
By comparison, in the first quarter of last year, Iraqi security forces confiscated 2,166 kilograms of narcotics, arrested 3,006 individuals, and secured 973 convictions, according to data from the country’s anti-drug agency.
Baghdad has also stepped up coordination with neighboring Syria this year. Joint operations led to the seizure of 500,000 Captagon pills, a powerful amphetamine, on Sunday, as well as 400,000 pills in February.
Malik Mohammed contributed to this article from Erbil, Kurdistan Region.
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