ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq- Iraq’s National Security Service (INSS) on Sunday announced the seizure of a crystal meth manufacturing lab in Basra and the dismantling of an international criminal network involved in drug production and trafficking.

In a high-level security operation, the agency was able to seize “a crystal meth manufacturing lab in Basra” and dismantle “an international criminal network specializing in the manufacture and trafficking of narcotics,” read an INSS statement.

The operation spanned over several Iraqi provinces and resulted in the arrest of 14 individuals “who are foreign nationals,” accused of forming an organized criminal network that trafficked and produced crystal meth.

One of the main suspects purportedly rented a house in the province and converted it into a “clandestine crystal meth manufacturing lab,” and a second suspect allegedly smuggled narcotics into the country and was arrested in a “well-executed ambush.”

“The operation resulted in the seizure of approximately twenty kilograms of crystal methamphetamine... Eight liters of raw chemicals used in the production of narcotics were also seized,” the statement added.

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

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.

In late November, the interior ministry said that Iraq had dismantled over 1,200 drug trafficking networks in the past three years, including 171 international cells.

Iraqi authorities arrested around 14,500 suspects on drug-related charges in 2024 and issued death sentences for 144 suspected drug traffickers. At least 454 others were sentenced to life (20 years in Iraqi law), according to official data.

According to the World Police Summit held in the UAE in May, Iraq ranked third in combating narcotics, with India in first place and Montenegro coming second. The summit evaluated 138 countries and 205 government and non-government organizations.