ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s interior ministry on Tuesday revealed that it has seized more than one and a half tons of narcotics since the beginning of 2026, and issued more than 40 death sentences, as efforts to counter the spread of narcotics continue.

Abbas al-Bahadli, spokesperson for the interior ministry, told The New Region that their forces have seized one ton and 662 kilograms of narcotics this year, adding that relevant courts have issued 42 death sentences and 186 life imprisonment sentences (20 years in Iraqi law) against traffickers.

The anti-narcotic operations saw 25 direct confrontations with members of drug gangs, which resulted in the death of three drug traffickers and the injury of 20. Meanwhile, the security forces suffered one death and 22 injuries while on duty, according to Bahadli.

Apart from internal efforts, twelve external operations have been carried out, alongside the activation of four international liaison points to prevent the entry of illegal substances across borders.

The spokesperson further stressed that judicial support and legal facilitation had a significant impact on the success of the operations.

On May 5, Iraq’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) announced thwarting a major drug smuggling attempt, seizing more than one million Captagon pills and around 100 kilograms of other narcotics, and arresting all members of the network in coordination with authorities in Sulaimani.

In January, Iraq’s National Security Service (INSS) said it arrested more than 800 individuals on drug-related charges in 2025, in addition to seizing hundreds of kilograms of narcotic substances. The numbers from INSS do not account for all of Iraq’s drug-related arrests and seizures, as multiple official bodies work on combating the spread of narcotics.

Meanwhile, more than 2,700 suspects were arrested on drug-related charges across the Kurdistan Region in 2025, Arkan Bibani, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region’s anti-narcotics directorate, told The New Region in mid-February.

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.