ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi security forces arrested four suspected drug traffickers in Baghdad, the interior ministry said Tuesday, in its latest operation amid an ongoing nationwide anti-narcotics crackdown.
“The Baghdad Rusafa Police Command…has successfully arrested four suspects red-handed in the Rusafa side of Baghdad, seizing crystal meth and drug paraphernalia in their possession,” the ministry posted on Facebook.
Security forces launched the operation after receiving intelligence about a suspicious residence, which resulted in the seizure of “11 grams of crystal meth, along with several lighters, drug paraphernalia, and small bags used for distributing the narcotics.”
During the first five months of 2026 alone, Iraqi authorities have confiscated more than 1.5 tons of narcotics and secured nearly 2,500 convictions in drug-related cases.
Operations led by the anti-narcotics directorate have scaled to involve international coordination, establishing 36 liaison channels with foreign counterparts to strengthen intelligence sharing and field cooperation.
The Iraqi National Security Service (INSS) said its forces arrested 50 suspected drug traffickers and seized a narcotics manufacturing laboratory in late August, adding that the operation also resulted in the seizure of over 2.5 kilograms of crystal meth and approximately 15,000 narcotic pills.
According to official figures, the Iraqi judiciary has handed down around 300 death sentences against major drug traffickers and network leaders, and 1,147 life imprisonment sentences - 20 years under Iraqi law - between late 2022 and late 2025. Those severe penalties accounted for the majority of the 2,318 total sentences issued in drug cases during that period.
A 2024 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) identified 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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