“Compared to the [first] seven months of last year, this year… trading narcotics has increased,”
Salam Abdulkhaliq, head of the Asayish media team, said during a press conference on Tuesday.
He added that more than two tons of narcotics have also been impounded and will be destroyed pending a court order.
Ihsan Abdulrahman, director of the Kurdistan Region’s correctional facilities, said in May that 1,311 individuals were incarcerated for drug-related offenses, including 50 women. The official added that convictions for drug-related charges in the region have significantly increased.
In March, Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) labor and social affairs ministry also warned about the spread of drugs, stressing that authorities had recorded an increase in drug usage and dealing among women, in particular.
For his part, Abdulkhaliq, the Asayish media head in Sulaimani, said on Tuesday that the rate of female drug-related arrests in the province has been very low this year without providing numbers.
In October, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said that the region is intensifying its efforts to combat the threat of drugs, calling on Kurdish and international communities to cooperate with Erbil to eliminate what he described as an “endemic” problem.
In addition to increased drug usage, the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, especially along their borders with Iran, Turkey, and Syria, are major transit routes for illicit drugs into Europe.
