Iraq confiscates balloon carrying Captagon pills
Shafaq News – Al-Anbar
Iraq’s Border Forces intercepted a drug smuggling attempt using a hot air balloon at the Trebil border crossing with Jordan, the forces reported on Sunday.
A unit from the Sixth Border Brigade, working with the Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, confiscated a balloon carrying 22.96 kilograms of Captagon pills, which smugglers had attempted to bring into Iraq through unconventional means.
This marks the third such smuggling attempt this month.
For decades, Iraq was regarded primarily as a transit route for drugs moving from Afghanistan and Iran to Europe and Gulf states. Since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, however, the country has increasingly become a consumer market, driven by instability, insecurity, and economic hardship.
Data released by the Interior Ministry last September indicated that Iraq dismantled 230 drug trafficking networks over the past three years, including 27 with international links.
Read more: Iraq fights back against synthetic drug flood engulfing the Middle East
