Iraq intercepts 200K drug pills in Al-Anbar, Maysan

Shafaq News – Baghdad (Updated at 21:10)

On Wednesday, Iraqi security forces foiled two separate attempts to smuggle narcotics across the country’s international borders using hot-air balloons, the Border Forces Command announced.

According to statements from the Command, forces in Al-Anbar intercepted a balloon carrying 98 packages containing 98,000 narcotic pills weighing 18 kilograms along the western border strip.

Hours later, a second balloon was seized on the southeastern frontier in Maysan province, with border forces recovering 19.5 kilograms of narcotics packed into bags containing a total of 102,000 pills. The Command said smugglers attempted to float the load over the border using the same method thwarted in Al-Anbar.

Border forces described hot-air balloons as an increasingly frequent tactic used by traffickers to bypass ground surveillance, noting that recent fortifications and constant monitoring have improved interception rates.

Al-Anbar and Maysan—two provinces with long, porous borders—have seen multiple unconventional smuggling attempts in recent months. Previous interceptions included a balloon carrying 245,000 captagon pills in September and another with 22,000 pills in November.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime identifies Iraq’s western and southern corridors, particularly Al-Anbar, as major transit routes for captagon trafficking from neighboring countries.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry earlier reported dismantling 1,201 drug networks over the past three years, including 171 international groups. Nationwide operations have seized more than 14 tons of narcotics, with courts issuing 2,318 rulings against offenders, including 300 death sentences and 1,147 life sentences.

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