Iraq security forces seize crystal meth, weapons and counterfeit cash in Basra

BASRA — Iraq’s National Security Service announced Saturday the arrest of a suspected drug dealer found in possession of narcotics and other illegal items during an operation in Basra over the Eid al-Adha holiday.

The agency said its forces arrested the suspect “in the act” following intelligence-led surveillance and field monitoring. Officers seized 550 grams of crystal meth along with counterfeit currency, weapons and narcotic pills. No further details about the suspect were provided.

The arrest comes as Iraq faces a deepening drug crisis. The country has evolved from a transit corridor into both a consumer market and redistribution hub, with traffickers increasingly using sophisticated cross-border networks and, in some cases, GPS-equipped balloons to move drugs across the Anbar border. Iraq’s judiciary issued 26 death sentences against drug traffickers in the first quarter of 2026 alone. Between January and August 2024, courts issued 140 death sentences and 500 life sentences in trafficking cases, with 3,006 arrests recorded in the first quarter of 2025.

Last week, National Security Service units arrested another suspected drug dealer in Baghdad’s al-Habibiya area after the suspect attempted to flee across rooftops, with drones used to track and pinpoint his location.