ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraqi border security forces on Monday intercepted the smuggling of 400,000 Captagon pills across the Euphrates River into Iraq from Syria’s Baghouz.

"The operation was monitored by thermal imaging cameras. The smuggled drugs were hidden inside tightly sealed plastic containers," Iraqi interior ministry spokesperson Miqdad Miri said.

The Iraqi border forces successfully "thwarted an attempt to smuggle 400,000 Captagon pills across the Euphrates River toward Iraq," Miri added.

Captagon, the brand name for the amphetamine-type psychostimulant fenethylline, has gained popularity among drug users, with authorities interdicting myriad smugglers and seizing millions of pills entering the country last year.

Following the 2003 US invasion, Iraq has seen a salient increase in drug trafficking and consumption, despite attempts by successive governments to combat the the phenomena.

Sharing extensive borders with Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, Iraq has evolved from a transit route to a significant drug consumption market.

Iraqi authorities said in late March they have inflicted “heavy losses” on drug traffickers in the country in 2025, arresting over 1,500 local and foreign suspects since the start of the year.

Despite consecutive government cabinet pledges to fight the drug phenomenon 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 remains inadequate in the face of the rapid increase in drug use.