Iraq issues 362 death sentences for drug trafficking since 2023

BAGHDAD — Iraq has issued 362 death sentences and 1,500 life imprisonment terms against convicted drug traffickers since 2023, the Interior Ministry’s Directorate of Narcotics Affairs said.

Directorate spokesperson Abbas al-Bahadli told the Iraqi News Agency that judicial outcomes in drug cases have risen sharply, with the figures covering 2023 through the current period of 2026. “Starting from 2023 until today, approximately 362 death sentences have been issued against drug traffickers,” he said, alongside 1,500 life sentences. By comparison, he said, 2021 and 2022 together produced only seven death sentences.

Al-Bahadli said the increase reflects government and judicial efforts to curb trafficking and disrupt the narcotics supply.

The figures come 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 inflatables to move drugs across the Anbar border.

In late May, authorities dismantled four trafficking networks in Basra governorate and arrested 14 suspects.