Anbar court sentences 11 to life in drug trafficking case

ANBAR — The Anbar Criminal Court on Sunday sentenced 11 individuals to life imprisonment for drug trafficking, according to a statement from the Supreme Judicial Council.

The court found the defendants in possession of 70,000 narcotic pills, which they intended to distribute and sell among users.

The sentences were issued under Article 28/1 of the Narcotics 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.

The Basra Criminal Court last week 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.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry said Thursday it carried out a preemptive counter-narcotics operation in coordination with Iran, seizing 64 kilograms of narcotics and arresting a suspect in Abadan.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani opened the Third Baghdad International Conference on Drug Control, presenting the event as a cornerstone of Iraq’s national and regional strategy to confront narcotics, while Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari detailed expanded security measures, rising enforcement capabilities and deeper international cooperation.