ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdistan Region’s anti-narcotics department on Sunday announced they had arrested 35 people on drug-related charges in the past few weeks and seized 51 kilograms of narcotic substances.

“In the past few weeks, 35 drugs traffickers have been arrested in Erbil and Duhok, some of whom were doing cross border smuggling of narcotics,” the Kurdistan Region’s anti-narcotics department said in a statement.

“In the process, the directorate seized 49 kilograms of crystal meth and two kilograms of heroin,” the statement added.

The Kurdistan Region’s authorities have time and again expressed their commitment to combatting the spread of narcotics in the Region.

A delegation from the American Sterling Charity Foundation met with Erbil’s governor Omed Khoshnaw in June to discuss the opening of a rehabilitation center in the province.

Two more centers are also said to be built in Sulaimani and Duhok provinces.

Despite imposing severe penalties, Iraq continues to struggle with an escalating drug problem that has intensified since the US invasion in 2003.

The country has transitioned from a transit route for drugs from Iran and Pakistan to a drug manufacturing hub, as noted in a 2022 report by the Washington Institute.

Iraqi politicians have repeatedly warned against the rapid increase of drugs in the country.

Despite consecutive government cabinet’s pledging to fight the drug phenomena in the country and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani having ordered the establishment of rehabilitation centers across all Iraqi provinces, the country’s infrastructure is still too weak to combat the rapid increase in drug use.