Iraqi tips led to 9 tons of drugs seized in 7 countries, official says

BAGHDAD — Iraqi intelligence has led to the seizure of about 9 metric tons of drugs in joint operations in seven countries, from Kuwait and Iran to Libya, the head of Iraq’s narcotics directorate said Monday.

The operations covered Kuwait, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Libya, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Salih al-Zarkani, director general of the Interior Ministry’s General Directorate for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, told the state-run Iraqi News Agency. The drugs seized included Captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant widely trafficked across the Middle East, as well as crystal meth and hashish. He did not say over what period they were seized, and 964media could not verify the total.

The joint operations “relied on precise intelligence provided by Iraqi agencies, which contributed to tracking international smuggling networks and seizing large quantities of narcotics,” Zarkani said.

Zarkani said the latest operation abroad took place in Libya and relied entirely on Iraqi intelligence surveillance. It seized 1.2 million pills belonging to a criminal network operating out of Chad, he said.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry announced the seizure of 1.2 million Captagon pills in Libya on Oct. 11. It described a joint operation between the narcotics directorate and Libya’s National Anti-Narcotics Agency in which a Libyan national was arrested. Zarkani did not say whether he meant the same seizure, and the ministry did not mention Chad at the time.

His list did not include the United Arab Emirates, where authorities seized 200,000 Captagon pills on Iraqi intelligence, the narcotics directorate said Oct. 23.

Recent operations also included the seizure of 20 kilograms of marijuana in a neighboring country after the directorate sent specialized teams to coordinate with local authorities, Zarkani said. He did not name the country.

Iraq has become one of the Arab countries at the forefront of anti-drug operations beyond their own borders, Zarkani said. “These operations reflect the development of Iraq’s intelligence capabilities and the directorate’s ability to reach criminal networks beyond the country’s borders, rather than limiting its efforts to pursuing their activities inside Iraq,” he said.

Iran’s place on the list comes as Iraq tightens its border with its eastern neighbor. Iraq closed the al-Sheib crossing with Iran on Oct. 21, and government adviser Abdul Amir Taiban said the closure was needed to keep out drugs and counterfeit currency.

Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said Oct. 22 that Iraq was pursuing a preemptive strategy against international drug trafficking networks, targeting cross-border supply routes and financing. He described drug trafficking as a form of “soft warfare” targeting Iraq’s internal security.

Iraqi authorities dismantled 1,538 drug trafficking networks between 2023 and 2026, including 234 transnational ones, and carried out 61 operations outside Iraq, the Interior Ministry said in April.

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 119 life sentences in drug cases, the Interior Ministry said. The judiciary issued 26 death sentences in drug cases over the same period. There were 19 armed clashes with traffickers in those three months, in which one member of the security forces and three traffickers were killed.