Dhi Qar police arrest drug trafficker with 20,000 Captagon pills

DHI QAR — Police in Dhi Qar Governorate announced the arrest of a man described as one of the region’s biggest drug traffickers, seizing 20,000 Captagon pills in an operation at a checkpoint north of Nasiriyah on Monday.

In a statement, the Dhi Qar Police Command said the arrest followed “precise and confirmed intelligence.”

Authorities carried the operation at the northern entrance checkpoint to Nasiriyah, coordinated by the Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances and the Checkpoints Department. During the operation, officers stopped a vehicle and discovered 20 bags, each containing 1,000 Captagon pills.

The statement said legal procedures were initiated against the suspect and called on citizens to cooperate with security forces by reporting suspicious activity.

A joint force from Basra police arrested a suspected drug trafficker in Al-Zubair on Saturday during an operation that also resulted in the demolition of a residence used for distributing and using narcotics.

Iraq’s Military Intelligence Directorate forces arrested a drug trafficker in Anbar on Friday, seizing a large quantity of Captagon tablets in a planned operation.

The General Directorate of Narcotics Affairs reported nationwide seizures of 250 kilograms of drugs and the arrest of 59 international dealers in September. In the first quarter of 2025, authorities arrested 3,006 people on drug-related offenses, and courts issued 973 sentences, an April report said.

Between January and August 2024, Iraqi courts handed down 140 death sentences and 500 life sentences in narcotics cases.