Commercial fraud crackdown nets nine suspects across Iraq

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq's National Security Service (INSS) on Thursday arrested nine suspects in operations across four provinces targeting commercial fraud, food counterfeiting, and public health violations.

In Najaf, INSS officers raided an unlicensed factory in the Bahr Al-Najaf industrial area, where the owner was repackaging Pakistani rice into bags bearing different commercial brands, and seized 675 tons of rice.

Security forces in Al-Diwaniyah detained three suspects at an illegal warehouse for relabeling food basket items before marketing them under false brands, confiscating nearly seven tons of products and related equipment.

Officers in Babil arrested a suspect running an unlicensed dairy production facility and seized more than five tons of raw materials, finished goods, and manufacturing equipment. Authorities also shut down a food production site in Basra for failing to meet health and safety standards.

Last year, Iraq launched a nationwide crackdown on unlicensed commercial facilities after a fire at a hypermarket in Kut on July 17 killed nearly 70 people. Since then, authorities have closed more than 1,100 businesses for safety violations, stepped up inspections of public and commercial facilities, and arrested several local officials over the blaze.