ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Baghdad court on Sunday issued a life sentence to a suspected Foxtrot international drug trafficking gang member amid a nationwide anti-narcotics campaign in Iraq and a push to curb international trafficking networks in the country.
“The Karkh Criminal Court issued a life sentence against a drug dealer belonging to an international gang specialized in drug trafficking in European countries,” the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) said in a statement, noting that the convict belongs to the Foxtrot criminal network and “specialized in the possession and trafficking of narcotics in a European country, used the Signal application to display and promote narcotics, as well as converting funds into cryptocurrencies.”
The sentence comes amid a broader crackdown against Iraqi nationals involved in drug trafficking networks. In a major joint operation in December, Kurdistan Region security forces and Iraqi intelligence arrested Ali Shehab, a senior figure in Sweden's notorious Foxtrot criminal network, in Sulaimani province. The dual Swedish-Iraqi national was captured following extensive domestic and international coordination with Swedish authorities.
Shehab, a close associate of Rawa Majid, the Kurdish-Swedish founder of the Foxtrot network, also known as the “Kurdish Fox,” is wanted internationally for orchestrating violent crimes across Northern Europe, including recruiting minors for contract killings. Authorities noted the dangerous international gang had been attempting to utilize Iraqi territory to further its drug trafficking and assassination operations.
Last year, Washington imposed sanctions on Rawa Majid over his reported involvement in arms and drug trafficking, as well as his cooperation with Iran in “attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets.”
“The Foxtrot Network is a notorious criminal gang based in Sweden and a prominent drug trafficking organization in the region. The group is involved in arms trafficking and contributes to rising violence in Northern Europe, including shootings, contract killings, and assaults,” said the US Department of State in a March 2025 statement.
The Iraqi National Security Service (INSS) on Firday announced the arrests of 62 suspects in July, saying that they were involved in “trafficking and promoting narcotics.”
Earlier in April, Abbas al-Bahadli, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior's anti-drug directorate, said authorities had dismantled 1,538 drug networks, including 234 transnational groups, over the past three years.
Iraqi authorities have also confiscated more than 1.5 tons of narcotics and secured nearly 2,500 convictions in drug-related cases during the first five months of this year.
Operations led by the anti-narcotics directorate expanded international coordination, establishing 36 liaison channels with foreign counterparts to strengthen intelligence sharing and field cooperation. Authorities also issued 151 international arrest warrants for suspects wanted by the judiciary.
A 2024 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) described Iraq as a "conduit" for drug smuggling, serving both as a destination and transit route for narcotics between Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Europe.
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