ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi and Kurdish authorities dismantled an "international" drug trafficking network, seizing some 260 kilograms of Captagon in the Kurdistan Region's eastern Sulaimani province, Baghdad's interior ministry announced Friday, a day after one kilogram of "magic mushrooms" was confiscated in the same province in what authorities described as the first such seizure in the country.
"The Rusafa Drug Affairs Directorate, in cooperation with the Sulaimani Drug Affairs Directorate, succeeded in dismantling an international drug trafficking network following a security pursuit that began in a neighboring country and ended in Sulaimani," the ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA).
The operation also resulted in "the seizure of 260 kilograms of Captagon pills and the arrest of two suspects, one of whom is a foreign national," it added, noting that "the operation was carried out four months ago, and the announcement was delayed for intelligence and investigative reasons, in order to complete the tracking of the network's extensions, activity routes, and to reach all its members."
The ministry further affirmed that "the continued pursuit of cross-border drug networks and the drying up of their sources comes with direct support from the fair judiciary and its courageous decisions."
Drug trafficking in Iraq is dominated by synthetic stimulants like Captagon - a highly addictive amphetamine-type stimulant - and crystal methamphetamine, alongside cannabis derivatives and opioids. Captagon accounts for the overwhelming majority of drug seizures by both weight and tablet count, with over 4.1 million pills confiscated since January, according to Iraqi authorities.
Friday's announcement came a day after anti-drug forces in Kirkuk and Sulaimani "seized one kilogram of 'magic mushrooms' and two kilograms of marijuana in Sulaimani," Abbas al-Bahadli told Rudaw's Nahro Mohammed, adding that a drug dealer was arrested in connection with the operation.
Magic mushrooms are fungi containing naturally occurring psychedelic compounds - primarily psilocybin and psilocin - that alter perception, thought, and mood for several hours when ingested. They are prohibited under the United Nations' 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, which bars member states from authorizing their production, trade, possession, and non-medical use.
Last week, Bahadli told Rudaw that authorities had confiscated two tons and 370 kilograms of narcotics over the past eight months. He added that 4,644 individuals have been sentenced on drug trafficking and use charges in the same period - 69 of them to death and 267 to life imprisonment. Security forces also dismantled 304 local networks and 54 international ones, conducted 21 operations outside Iraq, and issued 43 international arrest warrants.
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