By Anas al-Bar | 2024-08-19

Iraqi authorities have made solid progress in curbing cross-border drug smuggling in recent years, especially in stemming the flow of Captagon from Syria, which is the leading producer of the amphetamine-like stimulant.

Captagon is trafficked from southern Syria -- where Lebanese Hizbullah has established a number of factories to produce the drug -- to Gulf states, via Iraq and Jordan, facilitated by Iran-linked Iraqi militias.

Several international drug smuggling networks have been dismantled, and the quantity of Captagon seized by Iraqi security forces has tripled over the past two years, according to a July 22 United Nations (UN) report.

Last year, Iraqi authorities seized 24 million Captagon pills, setting a new record.

Yet Iraq is still at risk of becoming a trafficking route for drug smuggling networks operating across the Middle East, especially via Syria, the UN report warns.

Securing Iraq's border with Syria and other neighboring countries is a "top priority" in the country's plans to combat drugs, an Iraqi Ministry of Interior official told Al-Fassel on condition of anonymity.

Drugs are a "cross-border threat," he said, adding that the ministry, through the Border Guard Forces and the Directorate of Narcotics Affairs, is doing its utmost to close the smugglers' corridors and take down drug dealers.

Iraq seeks to interdict smuggling activities across its borders with Syria with concrete barriers and monitoring equipment, among other measures.

"We have come a long way, and we will continue to combat smuggling networks and traffickers of Captagon and all types of drugs," he said.

'Noose is tightening'

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-linked militias are directly involved in the regional and international drug trade, Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies director Ghazi Faisal Hussein told Al-Fassel.

These radical groups seek to keep the illicit drug trade active as it is a huge source of funding for their activities, he said.

Drugs enter Iraq through its eastern border with Iran, Hussein said.

Iran-backed militias are not only seeking to turn Iraq into a consumer of narcotics, but also a regional transit hub and a major producer of drugs, he said.

Hizbullah and the Iranian regime's other proxies are actively smuggling Captagon from Syria to Jordan and on to the Gulf states in a bid to destabilize Arab and Gulf societies, he added.

So far this year, Iraqi security forces have dismantled more than 230 drug networks, 27 of which were international networks comprised of about 150 international dealers.

On July 23, two international drug dealers were arrested with more than 85kg of Captagon pills in their possession.

Iraq now has an intelligence and security apparatus capable of pursuing drug networks wherever they are, security expert Fadel Abu Raghif told Al-Fassel.

"The noose is tightening on smugglers and drug dealers thanks to the proactive targeting of their hideouts," as well as to the plans implemented to control the borders, especially with Syria, he said.

The fortification of the Iraq-Syria border is making "huge progress," he said, while the Directorate of Narcotics Affairs is making great strides in curbing the international narcotics trade through Iraq.

Illicit drugs are "a major factor in instability in the region," Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said during a July 22 gathering of regional officials in Baghdad to discuss cooperation to stamp out the scourge of drugs.

"We will support every effort" to eliminate the illicit drug trade and bring the perpetrators to justice, he said.