Concealed pipeline to Siniya refinery found behind car wash, security service says

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s National Security Service said Friday it had found a concealed pipeline running to the Siniya refinery in Salah al-Din, hidden behind a vehicle wash garage and used to siphon crude, in operations across three governorates that produced five arrests.

Two suspects were held at the Siniya site, near Baiji, where investigators found oil residue and other evidence that the pipeline had been used, the agency said. It released footage of the raids and said they followed judicial warrants.

In Basra and Dhi Qar, security forces seized two tanker trucks carrying about 80,000 liters of crude — roughly 500 barrels — and arrested one man. Surveillance then led to three sites near the Dhi Qar highway used to move crude, and two more suspects were detained after allegedly trying to flee at the Sidra checkpoint. All five have been referred to the judicial authorities.

Oil theft is persistent in Iraq. The National Security Service said on May 26 that it had broken up an organized crude smuggling operation in Basra, and earlier that month the Energy Police raided a hidden site in Abu al-Khasib used to recycle and smuggle petroleum products. One person was killed near the Rumaila field in April 2025 when police confronted a group tapping pipelines, and a Karbala court jailed two people for 15 years in December 2024 for puncturing a pipeline and diverting crude.