Iraq Dismantles International Drug Trafficking Network in Territorial Waters
Iraq’s Interior Ministry says three suspects were arrested and 90 kilograms of hashish seized in an operation conducted for the first time in the country’s territorial waters.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Iraq’s Interior Ministry announced Saturday the successful dismantling of an international drug trafficking network in the country’s territorial waters, in what it described as the first operation of its kind carried out in Iraqi waters.
In an official statement on Saturday, the ministry said its General Directorate of Narcotics Affairs, in coordination with the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Naval Forces Command, had succeeded in breaking up what it described as a dangerous international network.
The operation resulted in the arrest of three suspects, including one foreign national. Authorities also seized 90 kilograms of hashish and two boats allegedly used to smuggle and transport the drugs.
According to the Interior Ministry, the teams departed from the Umm Qasr naval base and spent 16 hours reaching the designated target.
The operation followed several days of close surveillance and monitoring of the movements of suspected traffickers in Iraqi territorial waters, which border one of the country’s neighboring states.
The ministry said the operation was conducted as part of efforts to dismantle international drug trafficking networks operating through Iraqi waters.