Drug network leader detained after Babil clash

Shafaq News- Babil

Iraqi security forces arrested the suspected leader of a major drug trafficking network in Babil province on Monday evening after an armed clash, a security source told Shafaq News.

The clash caused no casualties, while authorities seized drugs and a weapon, completing a series of arrests targeting the four-member network after two suspects were detained on Sunday and a third on Monday morning.

According to the Interior Ministry, Iraqi authorities dismantled 378 drug trafficking networks in the first half of 2026, including 59 international groups, and seized 1,977 kilograms and 522 grams of narcotics. During the same period, security forces killed three traffickers and wounded 21 others, while courts convicted 3,553 people in drug-related cases, handing down 58 death sentences and 236 life terms.

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