ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq -  Iraq announced on Sunday that it has arrested over 3,000 drug traffickers and seized more than two tons of narcotics during the first quarter of this year. 

 

Of the 3,006 arrests made in the first three months of 2025, 973 were convicted on drug-related charges, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry's General Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances.

 

The report noted that 2.1 tons of narcotics were seized during the same period. 

 

At least two suspects were killed and 13 others injured in clashes with security forces, the statement detailed. 

 

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

 

Despite consecutive government pledges to combat drug-related issues in the country and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani's order to establish rehabilitation centers across all Iraqi provinces, the country's infrastructure remains too weak to handle the rapid increase in drug use.

 

In late December, Iraq's anti-narcotics directorate revealed that security forces arrested a total of 14,438 suspects on drug-related charges in 2024, in addition to confiscating six tons and 183 kilograms of narcotics.

 

A total of 144 death sentences were issued for suspected drug traffickers in 2024, and 454 others were sentenced to perpetual imprisonment (20 years in Iraqi law), according to the directorate. At least 11 drug suspects were killed, and 33 were injured in clashes with security forces, the directorate added, also reporting three deaths and 31 injuries within its ranks during that same period.

 

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

 

The country has transitioned from being 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 security forces have made significant strides; however, the country faces substantial challenges, such as insufficient rehabilitation centers and overcrowded prisons, leading to high relapse rates among former inmates.

 

Iraq's stringent narcotics laws, which impose death or life sentences for drug-related offenses, are a response to the severity of the crisis but have yet to curb the increasing drug use and trafficking fully.