Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraqi security forces arrested 12 suspected drug dealers in Baghdad during aseries of intelligence-led operations, the Military Intelligence Directoratereported on Wednesday.
According to a statement, forces set up surprise checkpoints across the capital over the past week,leading to the detention of the suspects and the seizure of various narcoticsubstances.
Drug trafficking has surged across Iraq in recent years, with the InteriorMinistry warning that the country is increasingly becoming both a consumermarket and a transit corridor for regional smuggling networks. Earlier thismonth, Iraq’s Directorate of Narcotics Control in Maysan province dismantled aninternational drug trafficking network operated by two foreign nationals insouthern Iraq.
Since the beginning of 2026, Iraq has seized more than 1.697 tons ofnarcotics, while courts have handed down 42 death sentences and 357 lifeimprisonment rulings against convicted traffickers.
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