National Security Service personnel stand guard during operations in Iraq
Iranian national arrested in Basra with drug lab, 13 kilos of crystal meth, officials say
BASRA — A joint Iraqi security force arrested an Iranian national accused of producing and distributing narcotics in Basra’s Qibla area and seized a complete drug lab along with more than 13 kilograms of crystal meth, security officials said.
A security source told 964media that “a joint force from the National Security Service, in cooperation with the tactical team of Basra Company and Anti-Narcotics in Baghdad and Dhi Qar and Shatt al-Arab Security Center, carried out a quality operation to arrest suspects involved in producing and promoting narcotics in the Qibla area.”
The source said the force arrested “a suspect born in 1977, an Iranian national residing in Abadan,” adding that authorities “seized a full lab used in drug production, in addition to 13 kilograms and 300 grams of crystal.”
Iraq has faced growing challenges from narcotics trafficking in recent years, evolving from a transit corridor into both a consumer market and a redistribution hub. Authorities have intensified operations along border regions and in major cities, reporting increasing quantities of seized drugs and thousands of arrests linked to production, smuggling and street-level sales.
Courts have handed down some of the country’s toughest penalties in high-level trafficking cases. Between January and August 2024, judges issued 140 death sentences and 500 life sentences in narcotics cases. In the first quarter of 2025, authorities reported 3,006 arrests related to drug offenses, while nationwide seizures reached 250 kilograms of narcotics in September alone.
