Kurdistan Region’s security thwarts a cross-border operation to smuggle half a ton of drugs

Mustafa Shilani 2022/07/18 20:45

The machines in which the drugs were hidden. (Photo: KRSC)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region’s Security Council (KRSC) announced on Monday the seizure of 500 kilograms of narcotic drugs in Erbil.

The council said in a statement “as our anti-drug efforts continue, the security forces seized 500 kilograms of narcotic substances in the city of Erbil,” adding that "the drugs were pills hidden inside juice-making devices."

The statement also pointed out that, "the narcotics were coming from Kirkuk aimed to be transported abroad, and our forces were able to arrest all of the truck drivers carrying these substances, in addition to the owner of the storage units where the drugs were kept."

Footage published by the Kurdistan Regional Security Council showed pictures of the four accused and the juice machines in which the narcotic pills were hidden.

The sale and consumption of any non-prescription narcotics are strictly forbidden in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

Kurdistan Region security forces torched over 130,000 grams of illicit drugs in the first half of 2022, according to figures released by the anti-narcotics agency on June 26.

Kurdish and Iraqi authorities often intercept shipments of drugs passing mainly through the provinces of Basra, Diyala, Erbil, and Sulaimani, specifically in the towns and villages connecting the autonomous federal region of Iraq with neighbouring nations Iran and Turkey.