Cross-Border drug operations reach 65 since 2023
Shafaq News- Baghdad (Updated on Saturday at 12:01 p.m.)
Iraq's security forces are waging "an open war" overseen by the General Directorate for Narcotics Affairs and Psychotropic Substances at the Interior Ministry against narcotics networks in 2026, with operations across the country producing tens of thousands of arrests and dozens of tons of seized controlled substances, the body's Media and Public Relations Director Col. Abbas al-Bahadli told Shafaq News.
Security Operations
The directorate was once composed of small units attached to police and intelligence services; it has since been expanded into a standalone general directorate with a direct ministerial reporting line and a provincial field presence. Operational doctrine has shifted in parallel, from containment to confrontation and preemption.
Thousands of networks have been dismantled in recent years, and the country's “most significant traffickers” have been arrested. Since 2023, Iraqi forces have conducted approximately 65 operations beyond Iraqi territory, coordinated with regional and international partners, targeting local dealers, major traffickers, and cross-border smuggling rings before shipments reach Iraqi soil.
"The external operations are the ministry's broader strategy to block narcotics at their source," Al-Bahadli added.
Smuggling methods have also grown more sophisticated, such as using airborne balloons to ferry consignments across the border —a technique documented in a recent operation in western al-Anbar province, where authorities intercepted more than 198,000 narcotic tablets.
Read more: The Smuggler's Almanac: Iraq's war against narco-innovation
Rehabilitation and Social Dimensions
Sixteen rehabilitation centers are now operating across Iraq, offering psychological, medical, and social treatment for addicts, including three in Baghdad. More than 7,270 individuals have completed treatment and reintegrated into society since 2023. Al-Bahadli said that a policy change separating addicts from traffickers within the custodial system —previously housed together in the general prison population— has also taken effect.
Price movements in the narcotics market point to supply disruption. Crystal methamphetamine has risen from approximately 10,000 dinars ($7.63) per gram to around 200,000 dinars ($152.6), a shift tied to sustained security pressure on distribution networks.
"Youth are the primary target demographic of narcotics networks," al-Bahadli warned, identifying individuals between 16 and 40 as most at risk and describing the pattern as a deliberate effort to drain the country of its productive human capital.
Read more: From cell to center: Iraq tests a new answer to addiction
