Iraq's narcotics fight intensifies: Death sentence for drug smuggler
Shafaq News/ On Sunday, a criminal court in Najaf sentenced a man to death by hanging for smuggling narcotics into Iraq, a judicial source reported to Shafaq News.
The convict was found guilty of bringing more than one kilogram of illegal drugs into the province. He also admitted hiding the substances inside children's toys and rubber tires with the intent to distribute them locally.
The ruling comes amid intensified efforts by Iraqi authorities to combat drug trafficking across the country.
Earlier today, the Iraqi Border Crossings Authority thwarted an attempt to smuggle thousands of Captagon pills through the Al-Qaim crossing in the country's western region.
Addressing Shafaq News, Alaa al-Qaisi, the spokesperson for the Authority, confirmed that the operation was based on precise intelligence provided by the anti-narcotics unit. A total of 3,803 pills were discovered hidden inside a four-wheel-drive vehicle. The driver, an Iraqi national, was taken into custody.
Officials described the seizure as one of the most significant operations targeting drug trafficking networks in recent weeks.
Last month, Iraqi border forces also intercepted 600,000 Captagon pills—equivalent to 104 kilograms—at the Safwan crossing with Kuwait.
Notably, Iraq lies along major trafficking routes linking Southwest Asia, the Gulf, and Europe. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has previously reported a sharp increase in drug seizures, warning that Iraq is playing an increasingly central role in regional smuggling operations involving Captagon and methamphetamine.
UNODC has also cautioned that Iraq may be shifting from a transit corridor to a site of production, citing growing domestic consumption driven by economic instability and limited border control.
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