By Anas al-Bar | 2023-10-05

As they step up their efforts to combat the spread of illegal drugs, Iraqi authorities are reportedly in the final stages of mulling a new independent security apparatus specialized in pursuing drug smugglers and traffickers.

"The final touches are in place" for the creation of a new agency that will be modeled on Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), a security official told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed last month.

The CTS is an independent, quasi-ministerial level organization that is separate from the ministries of defense and interior, according to the Brookings Institution's Center for Middle East Policy.

It has a three-tiered organizational structure that includes the CTS headquarters, the Counter Terrorism Command, and three Iraqi Special Operations Forces brigades.

The Ministry of Interior's General Directorate for Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Affairs will serve as a "foundation" for the new counter-narcotics agency, the security official told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed.

The new agency is to be furnished with the supplies and infrastructure it needs "to ensure the country is able to combat the growing drug menace," he said.

With this move, Iraq seeks to create a rapid intervention strike force with sophisticated armament and training that is capable of carrying out the most dangerous duties related to hunting down smugglers and drug traffickers.

This type of elite unit is an urgent necessity, as smuggling mafias are using innovative methods -- including drones and gliders -- to bring in drugs across the country's borders, experts with knowledge of the situation said.

In an alarming new development, drugs have been found sequestered inside children's candy and electronic cigarettes, Ministry of Health director of forensic medicine Zaid Ali Abbas said in an August 13 statement.

Going after drug trafficking gangs and dealers often involves pursuits and violent clashes, as some of them possess weapons and influence, which sometimes leads to casualties among security personnel.

A collective responsibility

The new agency will be the nucleus for the creation of other agencies and committees specialized in confronting the drug threat, security expert Safaa al-Aasam told Al-Fassel.

"Security and proactive work must be stepped up to confront this threat, which also requires solidarity from all sectors of the state," he said, including the ministries of health and environment.

Efforts to raise awareness about the danger of the spread of drugs also must involve the imams of mosques, tribal leaders and notables, he added.

Drugs are "a devastating social scourge, and fighting them requires collective sharing of responsibility, especially from the intelligence and national security services, army units and border forces," al-Aasam said.

Despite recent painful blows security forces have dealt to drug-smuggling networks, the task of defeating these networks and stopping the flow of illicit drugs remains daunting, he said.

The problem of illegal drugs is "a large and thorny issue" that has increased in Iraq over the past decade, he added, noting that it involves "mafias that have influence and extensive cross-border relationships."

There is a counter-terrorism aspect to the challenge of stamping out illegal drugs as well, al-Aasam added, noting that terrorist groups "could be financing themselves from the drug trade."

Al-Aasam said he fully supports the creation of a new agency, and expressed his conviction that "the challenges will be overcome and all the drug networks will be defeated, just as the terrorists were defeated."

Counter-narcotics operations

Operations continue to be launched against drug traffickers and dealers by the Directorate of Narcotic Affairs and Psychotropic Substances of the Ministry of Interior, in cooperation with other security agencies.

More than 12,000 people were arrested on drug charges between the beginning of this year and the month of September, Ministry of Interior spokesman Khaled Al-Muhanna told Al-Fassel.

About half of those charged with involvement in drug smuggling, trafficking and dealing have been convicted by Iraqi courts, he said.

Security forces seized about four tons of drugs, stimulants and hallucinogenic substances, he said, including "large quantities of Captagon pills, crystal meth, and other types of contraband such as marijuana, hashish, and heroin."

They also seized "weapons and explosives that were in the possession of drug smugglers and traffickers."

A number of "high-precision" operations were carried out in September, including the arrest of a drug dealer in Anbar province who was found to be in possession of 175,000 Captagon pills, officials said.

A man and a woman were arrested in Maysan province for drug trafficking, and were found to be in possession of 1.5kg of crystal meth.

A number of "very dangerous" drug traffickers were arrested in Basra, and about 32kg of Captagon pills was seized from their home.

Illegal drugs and substances that are seized by the Iraqi security forces are destroyed by a specialized committee headed by a representative of the judiciary that includes members of the ministries of interior and health.

The most recent destruction operation took place September 21, and was "the seventh of its kind within a period of two months," destruction committee head Judge Suhaib Dahham al-Maadidi said, per a government statement.

During this operation, approximately one million tablets of psychotropic substances and 20kg of various narcotic substances were incinerated.