ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Thursday warned against the dangers that narcotics pose, while underscoring the measures that the government has taken to tackle the issue.

The Barzani Charity Foundation on Thursday organized the "Together towards a strong and healthy society" conference, aiming to discuss the issue of drug abuse in the Region, under the supervision of the premier, during which a statement by Prime Minister Barzani was read out to the attendees by Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed.

“Narcotics are one of the most dangerous problems that humanity is faced with,” Barzani wrote, adding that they “are a serious problem, and their effects are no less than terror" in the Kurdistan Region.

“In the Kurdistan Region, serious work has been done to dry out the sources of narcotics, from arresting dealers to distributors and supervising cafeterias, pharmacies, transportation companies, all public places and tightening borders,” the premier said, in addition to highlighting ongoing cooperation and coordination with Baghdad as well as the international community to the same end.

The number of drug traffickers and the availability of illicit drugs in the Kurdistan Region have significantly declined in recent years, according to the spokesperson of the Region’s anti-narcotics department, Arkan Bibani, who noted that the number of arrests on drug-related charges in the Kurdistan Region dropped from 1,070 in 2023 to 831 perpetrators in 2024.

Iraq, with its extensive borders with Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, has evolved from a transit route to a significant drug consumption market. Authorities in both the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, however, have redoubled their efforts to root out the problem. Iraq’s Ministry of Interior announced Monday that it has ranked third in global efforts to fight drug trafficking and abuse, according to the latest World Police Summit held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The prime minister underlined the challenging geographic location of the Kurdistan Region in eliminating and combating the phenomenon, noting that the Region is situated among drug hubs that facilitate the entry of narcotics into the Region “in floods.”

Since 2022, over 3,300 drug traffickers have been arrested in Erbil and Duhok, according to Bibani. Iraqi authorities, on the other hand, arrested around 14,500 suspects on drug-related charges in 2024 and issued death sentences for 144 suspected drug traffickers, while sentencing 454 others to perpetual imprisonment (20 years in Iraqi law), according to official figures.