Kurdistan Region confiscates over 20 kg of illegal drugs being smuggled through Erbil
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Anti-Narcotics Directorate in the Kurdistan Region's capital province of Erbil on Tuesday announced the arrest of more than 10 members of three different gangs on charges of trafficking large amounts of illegal drugs.
Security forces made the arrests and seized the controlled substances in three separate operations, during which 23.5 kilograms of narcotics and tens of thousands of prescription pills were seized, according to a press statement released by the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC).
Seven of those detained were taken into custody earlier on Tuesday while in possession of 4.5 kilograms of "crystal," 3.5 kilograms of heroin, 2.7 kilograms of hashish, and 1.8 kilograms of another unspecified narcotic drug, as well as 37,772 pills that included tramadol, somadril, and methadone.
It should be noted that there is often confusion about the term “crystal” in the region since it is commonly used as the local name for two different highly addictive drugs. One is methamphetamine, known in much of the world as crystal meth, but it can also refer to high-purity street-level heroin, sometimes called “kerack.”
In the second operation, carried out on Sunday, the directorate said that they were able to arrest three suspects with six kilograms of heroin hidden in a car jack used for changing tires in a vehicle that had just passed from Iran and through the Haji-Omran border crossing to enter the Kurdistan Region.
In the final seizure described, security services managed to discover five kilograms of opium concealed between mattresses and lamps that were being prepped for shipping to the UK through a transport company. The statement did not include information about any arrests made as a result.
In early 2020, security forces confiscated eight kilograms of illegal drugs in the process of being shipped to Canada through another international freight company, also in Erbil.
Read More: Kurdistan thwarts attempt to smuggle drugs hidden in truck parts to Canada
“Five kilograms of the drug opium (Taryak) and three kilograms of ketamine were confiscated as drug traffickers were attempting to send it to Canada by hiding it inside shafts and other parts of an excavator truck,” a statement from the directorate read.
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.
Editing by John J. Catherine