Iraq-Syria operation targets major captagon network in Damascus
Iraq's Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari announced on Wednesday the dismantling of a major international drug trafficking network operating inside Syria.
Speaking at a press conference in Basra, al-Shammari said the operation was coordinated with Syrian authorities and led to the seizure of over 1.35 million Captagon pills and the arrest of members of a trafficking cell active in Syrian territory.
'The suspects were apprehended inside Syria, and the drugs were confiscated during the mission.'
'This operation is a model of regional cooperation,' the ministry said in its statement, 'and represents a decisive step in protecting Iraq and neighboring countries from the dangers of transnational drug networks.'
Iraq shares a 600-kilometer border with Syria, where, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), over 80 percent of the world's Captagon supply is produced.
UNODC figures show Iraq seized more than 24 million Captagon tablets in 2023 alone—an increase of 3,300% since 2019. The pills, which contain amphetamine-based stimulants, are often trafficked from southern Syria through western Iraqi provinces such as Al-Anbar and Nineveh, before being smuggled toward Gulf markets.
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