ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Region’s Anti-Narcotics directorate announced on Tuesday the arrest of 11 drug dealers and the seizure of over 26 kilograms of narcotics.

The Anti-Narcotics directorate in coordination with Soran and Pirmam security forces (Asayish) were able to seize 26.2 kilograms of narcotics of “crystal meth, hashish and heroin,” over the last two weeks, read a statement by the directorate on Tuesday.

The statement added that they also dismantled a drug-trafficking network and arrested the 11 individuals that made up the network.

The announcement comes less than two weeks after the Asayish forces and the anti-narcotics directorate arrested three individuals caught in possession of 1.8 kilograms of narcotics, and less than a month after the anti-narcotics department announced they had arrested 35 people on drug-related charges and seized 51 kilograms of narcotic substances.

Coincidentally, according to a statement by Baghdad’s Judicial Media, also on Tuesday “approximately 239 kilograms of various seized narcotic substances” were destroyed in Basra separately.

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.

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 in June met with Erbil’s governor Omed Khoshnaw to discuss the opening of a rehabilitation center in the province.

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.