Massive Captagon bust: Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kurdistan team up

Shafaq News/ Iraqi authorities have dealt a major blow to an international drug smuggling operation, seizing a large quantity of Captagon, Iraq’s Ministry of Interior announced on Sunday.

In a televised statement, Interior Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Muqdad Miri said the operation was conducted in coordination with Saudi authorities and Kurdistan Region security forces.

“The operation led to the seizure of a truck transporting 1.1 metric tons of Captagon from Syria through Turkiye before entering Iraq,” Miri stated, adding that Iraq’s General Directorate for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Control arrested those involved and dismantled the smuggling network following an extended surveillance and pursuit effort.

Earlier on March 13, Imad al-Dulaimi, the district administrator of Ar-Rutbah city, announced that Iraqi security forces successfully shut down a major smuggling route along the Syrian border.

The announcement came just one day after the Interior Ministry’s General Directorate for Drug and Psychotropic Substances revealed the issuance of international arrest warrants for several drug traffickers.