Kurdistan
Arkan Bibani spokesman of the Kurdistan Region’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate speaks at a presser on February 16, 2025. Photo: Rudaw
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Over 51 kilograms of narcotics have been confiscated and 35 individuals have been arrested in connection with international drug trafficking in Erbil and Duhok, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Region’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate stated on Sunday.
“Thirty-five drug dealers were arrested in Erbil and Duhok, some of them are foreigners and trade narcotics internationally,” Arkan Biban explained, adding that “49 kilograms of Crystal and two kilograms of Heroin were also confiscated.”
Of note, Crystal is often referent to Crystal meth but could also refer to other crystalline forms of drugs including MDMA and uncut Cocaine.
Bibani explained that most of the 35 suspects are “foreign dealers" while "the others are from the Kurdistan Region.”
There are currently more than 5,700 prisoners jailed in the Kurdistan Region, of whom 1,527 are charged with drug-related offences, which is one-fifth of the total detainees. More than 800 of them are dealers and traffickers, according to information obtained by Rudaw from government sources.
The Kurdistan Region Prime Minister in October 2023 stated that the region is ramping up efforts to combat drug-trafficking. Masrour Barzani further called on the population of the Kurdistan and international communities to cooperate with Erbil to eliminate what he described as an “endemic” scourge.
Erbil’s labor and social affairs ministry in March warned about the spread of drugs, stressing that “authorities had recorded an increase in drug usage and dealing among women,” in particular.
Of note, a research study published in July by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Office reported that Iraq - including the Kurdistan Region - has recorded “a sharp increase in the trafficking and use of Captagon over the past five years.”
The report added that Captagon seizures in Iraq increased by almost 3,380 percent in Iraq from 2019 to 2023. Iraq reported the seizure of over 4.1 tons of ‘Captagon’ tablets between January and December 2023 alone.”
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