Iraqi and Syrian authorities have announced the seizure of 57kg of drugs in a joint operation to crack down on smuggling networks.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said two suspects were arrested in an operation in Syria “as part of security and intelligence co-operation” between the two countries. It added that the suspects were planning to smuggle hashish into Iraqi territory.
The operation represents “a clear demonstration of the mutual trust between the security agencies of the two brotherly countries ... as well as their commitment to confronting the threat of drugs”, the ministry said.
It emphasised its commitment to “pursuing international criminal networks, drying up the sources of drugs and continuing intelligence and field operations to protect the Iraqi people from this dangerous scourge”.
The Syrian Interior Ministry said its Narcotics Directorate, in co-ordination with Internal Security Forces, has intensified its campaign to curb drug trafficking, which it said expanded under the regime of former president Bashar Al Assad.
Iraq and Syria have been increasing co-operation on efforts to tackle drug smuggling. The latest operation came as the US envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, was discussing Damascus-Baghdad relations with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani.
In October, Iraq and Syria announced the seizure of 370kg of drugs in a joint operation in Syria. In July, Iraqi counter-narcotics forces seized more than 1.35 million Captagon pills in a raid in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Captagon is an addictive amphetamine trafficked to countries across the Middle East. Millions of pills were produced in Syria under the Assad regime, with Syria accounting for about 80 per cent of world production, the New Lines Institute think tank said.
In February, Iraq announced the confiscation of an estimated 1.1 tonnes of Captagon pills hidden inside a lorry that entered the country from Syria through Turkey. It was the first major bust since the downfall of the Assad regime in December.
