Iraq
Iraqi security forces seized 5 billion Syrian lira in Kirkuk on January 10, 2025. Photo: handout
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi security forces on Friday found five billion Syrian liras hidden in a truck at a Kirkuk checkpoint, the spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said.
“At the Tarkalan checkpoint in Kirkuk, our forces managed to seize 5 billion Syrian liras (around $454,000), which were hidden inside a truck,” Miqdad Miri told Rudaw.
"The driver and another person who was accompanying him have been arrested and are being investigated. It is not yet clear where and for what purpose they were taking this money, but it appears they are only the executors, not the owners of the money,” he added.
The truck entered Iraq through al-Qaim, the main border crossing with Syria in Anbar province.
Baghdad shut the border last month when the regime of its ally Bashar al-Assad was toppled by rebels. The Iraqi government deployed troops to the border, but said it would maintain ties with Damascus.
The border crossing was recently reopened.
Before the collapse of the Syrian regime, the lira was trading on the black market at nearly 15,000 to the dollar, but it is currently valued at around 11,000.
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