Iraq says it arrested five-member drug network in Syria

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s National Intelligence Service said it carried out an operation inside Syrian territory that led to the arrest of a five-member drug trafficking network, according to a statement issued Tuesday.

The agency said the network was planning to smuggle large quantities of the Captagon drug into Iraq through Syria in multiple batches. It said the operation resulted in the seizure of more than 200,000 pills in the network’s possession.

In its statement, the intelligence service said the operation followed “accurate intelligence information and continuous tracking in more than one regional country,” and was conducted in cooperation with relevant Syrian security authorities.

The agency said the arrests were part of a preemptive operation aimed at preventing the drugs from entering Iraq.

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.

In mid-January, Iraq’s Interior Ministry said it dismantled an international drug manufacturing and trafficking network in a joint operation with Syrian authorities, arresting one suspect inside Iraq and two others in Syria and seizing about 2.5 million Captagon pills.

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.