By Anas al-Bar | 2023-10-09

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.

As Baghdad takes steps to combat the issue, "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.

Iraq's Ministry of Interior 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, Iraqi 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.

Collective responsibility

The new Iraqi 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, Pishtaz's sister website.

"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.

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."

Regional drug trade has exploded since the war in Syria started in 2011 -- a war that has been fueled with Tehran's staunch support for the Assad regime.

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."

Iran itself has been for years grappling with a grave drug problem, particularly in border areas.

The most serious drug issues exist among the country's ethnic minorities, the Baluch minority in particular.

Due to the proximity of Sistan and Baluchestan province to Pakistan and Afghanistan, smuggling and selling illegal drugs are prevalent in that province, as are drug use and addiction.

The regime metes out severe punishment for those convicted of drug charges.

Rights organizations have verified that 20 Baluch citizens -- including two women -- were executed in the province between April 30 and May 4 of this year, mostly for drug offenses.

A 26-year-old Baluch woman whose brother has been in a Zahedan prison on death row said her brother turned to selling narcotics out of desperation.

Her family does not know how long her brother has been imprisoned, as they were kept in the dark about his whereabouts until weeks after his arrest, she told Pishtaz on the condition of anonymity.

"Some people in Zahedan say the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] itself is the main problem. But the government arrests, imprisons and kills our youth," she added.

"Many young people are unemployed, desperate and destitute in Sistan and Baluchestan. Yet the government does not implement programs to help the population. How would executing so many young Baluches eradicate the province's drug problem?" she asked.

Counter-narcotics operations

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

More than 12,000 people were arrested in Iraq 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.

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 chairman 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.