Iraq seizes 14 tons of drugs, issues over 2,300 sentences in three years

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq has dismantled over 1,200 drug trafficking and promotion networks in the past three years, including 171 international groups, the country’s interior ministry confirmed Tuesday, noting the seizure of more than 14 tons of narcotics and issuing over 2,300 drug-related sentences, including 300 death penalties.

At a press conference in Baghdad, Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesperson Colonel Abbas al-Bahadli detailed that authorities seized “14 tons, 20 kilograms, and 17 grams of narcotic substances” over the past three years. He added that “2,318 sentences were issued against those involved in drug cases, including 300 death sentences and 1,147 life imprisonment sentences.”

Bahadli also confirmed that Baghdad issued around “140 arrest warrants” for foreign nationals and conducted “40 security operations outside Iraq’s borders,” noting the establishment of 33 communication points with regional and international counterparts to facilitate cooperation and advanced intelligence exchange.

The interior ministry spokesperson further highlighted that 6,200 people have recovered from addiction so far, while 1,228 are still undergoing treatment in specialized rehabilitation centers. In total, 16 anti-drug clinics have been established across the country.

Speaking at the same conference, Lieutenant General Ahmed al-Zarkani, director-general of Anti-Narcotics Affairs at the ministry’s General Directorate for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, confirmed the extradition of “many internationally wanted individuals.”

He further noted that a dangerous network was dismantled through “four operations resulting in arrests of anti-narcotics networks in four different countries.”

In late October, Zarkani reported that Iraq’s efforts to combat drug trafficking were formally recognized at an anti-narcotics conference in Tunisia.

“Iraq won first place at both the Arab and international levels in the awards for best performance and field cooperation in combating narcotics,” he said, noting that the accreditation was granted on the sidelines of the 39th Arab Conference of Heads of Anti-Narcotics Agencies held in Tunis.

In recent years, Iraqi authorities have intensified their campaign against drug trafficking. The effort came as Iraq, once primarily a transit route, had increasingly become a destination for narcotics.

Around mid-August, the interior ministry described Iraq as a “regional leader” in combating drugs, highlighting the country’s role in providing intelligence on international narcotics networks. The ministry cited, as an example, Iraqi intelligence contributions to the raid on one of the Middle East’s largest Captagon-manufacturing facilities in eastern Lebanon.

In late October, Iraqi authorities announced the seizure of hundreds of kilograms of narcotics during a major security operation conducted “inside Syrian territory” in direct coordination with Damascus. Around the same time, Baghdad reported intercepting several kilograms of drugs smuggled into the country from Saudi Arabia.