Iraq
Iraqi security forces arrested a "foreign drug dealer" in the possession of nearly one million captagon pills on July 23, 2023. Photo: Iraqi National Security Service/Facebook/screengrab
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi security forces on Monday announced seizing around one million captagon pills in the capital Baghdad, in addition to arresting more than 30 suspects on drug-related charges in separate operations.
The pills were in the possession of a “foreign drug dealer” who had hidden them inside a truck and was intending to transport them into one of the provinces in northern Iraq, according to a statement from the national security service.
Additionally, the forces also arrested nine in Baghdad suspected of hiding eight kilograms of marijuana inside statues and electrical appliances. At least 23 others were arrested on separate drug-related charges in Baghdad and Salahaddin as well.
“All the confiscated items and the suspects have been handed over to the specialized investigative authorities to take the necessary measures in accordance with the law,” the statement added.
Captagon is an amphetamine-type stimulant which has been spreading across the Middle East, with Syria as the main supplier and Saudi Arabia the primary consumer.
Earlier this month, Iraq’s Rapid Response Force and the General Directorate of Narcotics Control carried out what was labeled as the country’s first seizure of a captagon laboratory in Muthanna province.
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 growing drug trade and use as seriously as the country fights terrorism.
Around 15,000 people were arrested on drug-related charges in Iraq in 2022 and more than 400 kilograms of narcotics were confiscated, according to the General Directorate of Narcotics Control in Iraq’s Ministry of Interior. Around 250,000 captagon pills were seized from a school under renovation in Anbar province in late June.
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