Iraq drug operations net arrests, death sentence
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraqi security forces arrested three suspected drug traffickers in separate operations in Saladin and Babil on Sunday, while a Basra court sentenced a foreign national to death for drug trafficking.
In Saladin, Nineveh anti-drug officers, working with their counterparts in the province, arrested two suspects in an ambush and seized 13,500 psychotropic pills, the General Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances said.
In Babil, the provincial Intelligence and Security Directorate said it arrested a suspected drug trafficker whom it described as “dangerous” and seized one kilogram of crystal methamphetamine, along with drug paraphernalia, including ampoules and gas canisters used for anesthesia.
The directorate said officers, working with Babil’s anti-narcotics unit, lured the suspect into an ambush after he had fled to Kirkuk.
Separately, the Basra Criminal Court sentenced a foreign national to death after convicting him of drug trafficking, according to Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council.
Authorities seized 10 kilograms and 50 grams of hashish from the convicted man, which the court said was intended for trafficking and distribution.
During the first half of 2026, Iraqi authorities seized about 2000 kilograms of narcotics, according to the Interior Ministry. Courts recorded 3,553 drug-related convictions during the period, including 58 death sentences and 236 life sentences.
