ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Over a ton of narcotics were seized by Iraqi security forces during the first ten months of this year as the country intensifies efforts to combat the spread of drugs. “The central investigation court seized hundreds of kilograms of narcotics,” Judge Walid Ibrahim was quoted by state media as saying. He added that the total confiscated since the start of the year until mid-October exceeded a ton. Around 75 percent was made up of Captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant that has been spreading across the Middle East, with Syria being the main supplier and Saudi Arabia the primary consumer. In the same period, 75 death sentences were issued, including six to foreigners, and 20 aggravated sentences were handed down, the judge stated. Earlier this month, Iraqi security forces dismantled an internationally-linked drug trafficking network and seized over 150 kilograms of Captagon narcotic pills, according to the interior ministry. Iraq’s judiciary has handed down strict sentences for drug-related crimes, including 140 death sentences and 500 life imprisonment sentences (20 years in Iraqi law) for smugglers and dealers since the start of 2023, according to data from the interior ministry. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani in July 2023 ordered the establishment of rehabilitation centers in all Iraqi provinces, excluding the Kurdistan Region, as part of his cabinet’s stated commitment to combat the growing drug trade and use, as seriously as the country fights terrorism. In 2023, more than 19,000 people were arrested across Iraq on drug-related charges, according to Baghdad, and over 15 tons of psychotropic substances were seized.
