Kurdistan security seizes illegal drugs at Erbil airport, other locations
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Officials from the Anti-Narcotics Directorate of the Kurdistan Region’s province of Erbil announced on Tuesday that agents had arrested three and confiscated over 10 kilograms of various illicit drugs ion three separate operations that day.
According to a statement, the controlled substances seized included methamphetamine – both in liquid and solid forms – and opium.
Roughly two kilograms of opium were discovered by security forces stationed at Erbil International Airport (EIA), where a suspect is accused of attempting to transport it out of the Kurdistan Region by hiding it within 10 copper pots.
On Wednesday, the directorate arrested a suspect it charged with smuggling large amounts of various illegal drugs as well as counterfeit currency and a printer capable of producing more.
Read More: Erbil security forces arrest drug dealer, confiscate illicit items
In late June, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced the arrest of 586 suspected drug dealers and users over the first half of 2020 to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, observed annually on June 26.
Read More: Kurdistan announces nearly 600 drug arrests in first half of 2020; over 350 kg seized
Kurdish and Iraqi authorities often intercept shipments of drugs passing through Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, mainly in the provinces of Basra, Diyala, Erbil, and Sulaimani.
Most of it is smuggled into the country through its porous border with Iran, on its way to Turkey, Syria, and ultimately Europe and North America.
In September, a member Iraq's Human Rights Commission in Baghdad on Wednesday announced national drug abuse and trafficking information so far for 2020, excluding the Kurdistan Region.
Read More: Iraqi commission announces national drug abuse, arrest figures
The four provinces administered by the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have their own drug enforcement agencies and forces as described above, so were excluded from the national figures.
"Drug trafficking and abuse have become a phenomenon that threatens the family and society. The main factors that have led to an increase in drug use are economic, social, and psychological reasons, as well as higher rates of domestic violence and the general security situation," said Fadhel al-Gharawi in a statement.
He added that "the number of people arrested and convicted in cases of the drug trade and abuse for the year 2018 reached 9,328 cases, while in 2019 only 6,407 cases were recorded. As for the year 2020, from the beginning of the year until Sept. 1, 2020, the number of detainees and convicts in cases of the drug trade and abuse reached 4,594 with the exception of the Kurdistan Region.”
Editing by John J. Catherine