Iraq sentences foreign trafficker to death, destroys seized drugs

Shafaq News – Baghdad/Basra/Erbil/Maysan

Iraq intensified its anti-narcotics efforts on Monday with a series of actions across the country, including a death sentence for a foreign trafficker, large-scale drug destruction in Erbil, and multiple arrests.

In Basra, the Criminal Court sentenced a foreign national to death after police found five kilograms of methamphetamine and tramadol intended for sale. The Supreme Judicial Council said the ruling was issued under Iraq’s 2017 Anti-Narcotics Law.

In Baghdad, two Iraqis received life sentences after being caught with over three kilograms of hashish. The verdict was based on the same law, alongside penal code provisions for criminal involvement.

In the Kurdistan Region, Erbil authorities destroyed more than 14 kilograms of confiscated narcotics—marijuana, hashish, heroin, opium, syringes, and over 300 tablets—following final court rulings.

In Maysan province, security forces arrested another foreign national attempting to smuggle 10 kilograms of drugs into the country. The arrest followed an intelligence-led operation, according to a statement by local authorities.

Drug trafficking and abuse have become growing concerns in Iraq. Speaking at the Democracy Summit in Seoul, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called for the creation of an international alliance to combat the spread of narcotics, warning that “drugs have claimed countless young lives worldwide.”