Kurdish security confiscates 50 kg of heroin in Duhok, arrest two suspects

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdish security forces in the Kurdistan Region’s province of Duhok on Saturday arrested two people in possession of about 50 kilograms of drugs which they intended to smuggle abroad.

Colonel Faraj Kouger, the Head of the Anti-Drug Directorate in Dohuk, said the center had received a tip on a Toyota Camry vehicle which contained a significant amount of narcotic substances.

According to Kouger, authorities succeeded in locating the car the two suspects were traveling in. Police arrested the two criminals and confiscated the narcotics, which authorities determined was heroin.

The Colonel added that the two individuals planned to smuggle the illegal substances to Turkey and then from there to European countries.

“These two people have links with mafias and gangs to trade these kinds of narcotics,” Kouger said, adding that the drugs were brought into Kurdistan from Iran.

The identities of the suspects were not revealed.

Kurdish security forces routinely confiscate drugs and other illicit material smuggled into Kurdistan, mainly through its borders with Iran.

In July, security forces arrested four suspected of narcotics trafficking and seized under 30 kilograms of heroin in Duhok’s Akre district.

Also in July, authorities detained two suspects attempting to smuggle 29 kilograms of heroin into one of the Kurdistan Region’s neighboring countries.

In May, Soran security in Erbil said they confiscated dozens of packages of narcotics smuggled into the Kurdistan Region from Turkey. However, the security forces said it was unclear if the drugs were originally from there.