UAE seizes 200,000 Captagon pills on Iraqi intelligence

BAGHDAD — Authorities in the United Arab Emirates seized 200,000 Captagon pills and arrested suspects in an operation based on intelligence from Iraq, Iraq’s General Directorate for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances said Friday.

Iraqi authorities gathered, analyzed and shared intelligence with the UAE’s national anti-narcotics agency, leading to a joint security plan that allowed the shipment to be intercepted and those involved arrested in the UAE, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant, is widely trafficked across the Middle East.

The operation showed the role of international security and intelligence cooperation in tracking cross-border trafficking networks and intercepting shipments, the ministry said. It did not say how many people were arrested or where the shipment came from.

Iraq has carried out several cross-border counter-narcotics operations this year. Intelligence passed by Iraq to Libyan authorities led to the seizure of 1.2 million Captagon pills and the arrest of a Libyan national in a joint operation inside Libya, the Interior Ministry said on Oct. 11.

Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said Thursday that Iraq was pursuing a preemptive strategy against international drug trafficking networks, targeting cross-border supply routes and financing, and described drug trafficking as a form of “soft warfare” targeting Iraq’s internal security.

Three foreign nationals suspected of international drug trafficking were arrested in Iraqi territorial waters after an exchange of gunfire, and 30 kilograms of drugs they had thrown overboard were recovered, the Interior Ministry said Sunday. Earlier this month, Iraqi forces intercepted a boat in Iraqi waters carrying 90 kilograms of hashish and arrested three foreign nationals, acting on a tip from a neighboring country, the narcotics directorate said. A fourth suspect escaped.

In the first quarter of this year, security forces seized 1,147 kilograms of drugs and arrested 3,742 people, 1,815 of whom were convicted, and courts handed down 26 death sentences and 119 life sentences in drug cases, the Interior Ministry said. There were 19 armed clashes with traffickers in the same period, in which one member of the security forces and three traffickers were killed.