Iraq reports sharp drop in Captagon smuggling after fall of Assad regime
Haider al-Quraishi, a member of the National Counter-Narcotics Team, told Al-Hura that the fall of Assad’s regime has disrupted the main path for captagon smuggling into Iraq.
Dec. 17, 2024
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Tuesday, The Iraqi National Counter-Narcotics Agency reported that cases of captagon trafficking along Iraq’s border with Syria have considerably diminished or vanished since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Haider al-Quraishi, a member of the National Counter-Narcotics Team, told Al-Hura that the fall of Assad’s regime has disrupted the main path for captagon smuggling into Iraq.
“After the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime, the Iraqi authorities have not taken any action to arrest drug traffickers,” al-Quraishi stated.
Al-Quraishi emphasized Syria’s role as the foremost source of the illegal drug, saying, “Captagon, which entered Iraq from Syria, includes about 90 percent of the amount spread in Iraq.”
Significant Drug Seizures and Arrests
In spite of the reported slump in the smuggling activities along the Iraqi-Syrian border area, Iraqi authorities have remained vigilant in tackling narcotics operations.
Al-Quraishi stated that in the first half of this year alone, authorities captured 18 million captagon pills and detained more than 6,000 individuals linked to drug trafficking.
In one noteworthy incident last Oct., the Iraqi National Security Agency seized over 500,000 captagon pills hidden within a shipment of vegetables.
The operation underlined the creativity of traffickers in trafficking narcotics across borders.
The Captagon Crisis
Captagon, a highly addictive amphetamine-based drug, has become a main regional issue.
For years, Syria was viewed as a hub for captagon production and trafficking networks, with its borders playing as gateways for the narcotic to enter neighboring countries, including Iraq.
The demise of Assad’s regime earlier this month seems to have disturbed these operations, causing a dramatic drop in smuggling activity along the Iraqi-Syrian border.
Iraq’s Ongoing Battle Against Drug Trafficking
While the drop in captagon trafficking is an encouraging development, Iraq remains cautious.
Drug trafficking has long posed important security and societal challenges in the country. Authorities remain vigilant to fortify border controls and anti-narcotics operations to avert smugglers from exploiting alternative routes.