"A qualitative operation was carried out ... which resulted in the arrest of 4 drug dealers, one of whom is a foreigner, and the dismantling of their international network and the seizure of 170 kilograms of Captagon narcotic pills in Basra," the interior ministry said in a statement.
The ministry stressed that Iraqi security forces are continuously working to dismantle international trafficking networks across Iraq's provinces.
Captagon is an amphetamine-type stimulant that has been spreading across the Middle East, with Syria as the main supplier and Saudi Arabia as the primary consumer.
Iraq’s judiciary has handed down strict sentences for drug-related crimes, including 140 death sentences and 500 life imprisonment sentences (20 years in Iraqi law) for smugglers and dealers since the start of 2023, according to data from the interior ministry.
Iraqi 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.
In September, a Baghdad court handed death sentences for two people charged with dealing narcotics.
In 2023, more than 19,000 people were arrested across Iraq on drug-related charges, according to Baghdad, and over 15 tons of psychotropic substances were seized.
