Kirkuk seizes 160+ smuggling vehicles in 45 days
Shafaq News- Kirkuk
Security forces in north-central Iraq’s Kirkuk province seized 163 vehicles transporting smuggled goods without paying customs duties over the past 45 days, Kirkuk Operations Commander Maj. Gen. Maad Baday revealed on Saturday.
Baday told Shafaq News the vehicles were intercepted on unofficial smuggling routes before being handed over to the relevant authorities, saying the operation forms part of the province’s anti-smuggling and anti-corruption drive.
Addressing a video presented by MP Othman Al-Shaibani during a recent parliamentary session, Baday explained that it referred to corruption cases dating back to before his appointment. The suspects, officers from the Kirkuk Police Command, admitted exploiting their positions to facilitate smuggling through the Darman and Jiman checkpoints north of Kirkuk, which are overseen by the Border Crossings Authority and the National Security Service alongside other security agencies.
Read more: Iraq's Dawn Crackdown by numbers: 67 arrests explained
Launched on June 28, the ongoing nationwide anti-corruption campaign Dawn Crackdown (Sawlat Al-Fajr) has targeted more than 70 current and former officials, lawmakers, and business figures. Its next phase will focus on cases linked to the health, oil, and electricity ministries while expanding efforts to trace assets inside and outside Iraq.
A Shafaq News review found that, in addition to those arrests, Iraqi authorities detained at least 35 public officials and employees in six separate cases between July 12 and July 19.
Read more: Iraq detains 35 officials in weekly corruption sweep
