Kirkuk police seize seven trucks, raid warehouse of ‘smuggled’ alcohol

KIRKUK — Kirkuk Police Command said Saturday it had “seized seven trucks loaded with smuggled goods and a warehouse for storing smuggled alcoholic beverages” on the outskirts of the city.

The statement said the operation was part of ongoing duties to monitor the security trench and “prevent smuggling through unpaved routes.” Police added that the goods’ owners “intended to bring them into the governorate without undergoing inspection and control procedures.”

According to the statement, police units carried out the seizure during a “targeted operation on roads near the city.” Authorities organized an official seizure report, “took legal measures against them, and handed them over to the competent authorities.”

The operation come amid heightened enforcement efforts by Iraqi authorities against the sale and distribution of alcohol. On Feb. 26, the General Authority of Customs reported intercepting a large shipment of alcoholic beverages hidden inside a Scania truck in Nineveh. That operation, described as “unique and sophisticated,” was carried out in coordination with the National Intelligence Service and local security forces.

The crackdown follows implementation of a 2016 law banning the import, production and sale of alcoholic beverages — a measure that has drawn criticism from minority communities, including Christians and Yazidis, who have traditionally operated many of Iraq’s liquor businesses.