Three foreigners arrested after gunfight at sea, 30 kg of drugs recovered

BAGHDAD — 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.

The operation followed two days of surveillance by intelligence units and the Special Investigations Department of the General Directorate of Narcotics Affairs, working with the Naval Forces Command and the Naval Intelligence Directorate, the ministry said. One suspect was wounded in the exchange of fire in open water, and the forces acted within the rules of engagement, it said. The suspects threw the drugs into the sea to get rid of the evidence, and the 30 kilograms were recovered after one of them was questioned aboard the boat. The ministry did not give the suspects’ nationalities, the type of drugs or the exact location. Its operations against trafficking networks would extend from land borders to the sea routes smugglers use, it said.

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.