ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s National Intelligence Service (INIS) said Friday it arrested a 10-member criminal network of foreign nationals who were in Baghdad illegally, accusing them of luring foreigners, holding them captive, torturing them and demanding ransoms from their families.

The service said the arrests were carried out in cooperation with the Anti-Human Trafficking Directorate at the Interior Ministry following intelligence gathering and field monitoring.

The network allegedly lured foreign nationals to Iraq with promises of employment before holding them captive and torturing them. The suspects allegedly documented the abuse and sent the footage to victims’ families while demanding large sums of money for their release, according to the INIS.

The service said in a statement that it “succeeded in arresting a criminal network consisting of ten members holding foreign nationalities, who were present illegally in the capital, Baghdad. The network worked to lure foreign nationals to Iraq under the pretext of providing them with job opportunities, then held them captive and tortured them, documenting the torture and sending it to their families while demanding large financial ransoms in exchange for their release.”

Human trafficking in Iraq has also involved foreign workers brought into the country by trafficking networks and allegedly forced to work for long hours under harsh conditions for little pay.

Trafficking networks have also been reported to confiscate victims’ passports and other personal documents to prevent them from leaving their jobs.

The Interior Ministry said in October that it had dismantled 220 international human trafficking networks since the start of 2025, along with 96 networks involved in sexual exploitation.

It also said at least 91 people had fallen victim to human trafficking networks, while 24 suspects had so far stood trial on trafficking-related charges.