Drug dealer sentenced to death in Basra

BASRA — The Basra Criminal Court on Monday sentenced a drug dealer to death after authorities found him in possession of two kilograms of opium intended for sale and distribution among users, according to a court statement.

The court convicted the individual under Article 27/First of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law No. 50 of 2017.

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.

Last week, an Anbar criminal court sentenced a defendant to life in prison for possessing 4,000 Captagon pills with the intent to distribute them among users, the judiciary’s media office said.