Iraq security forces smash major drug network in Baghdad
Two dozen members of an Iraqi organised criminal network were arrested in Baghdad.
Counter-terrorism forces and the military intelligence services said on Saturday that they had arrested 20 drug dealers running a network within Baghdad and other provinces.
About seven kilograms of drugs were seized, including crystal methamphetamine, hashish and marijuana plants.
All are prohibited under Iraqi law.
About 14,500 pills, five cars, four motorcycles, three machineguns, four pistols, four hand grenades and an unspecified amount of money were also seized from the suspects.
A spokesman for the Iraqi Armed Forces described the criminal network as the biggest in Baghdad.
The authorities put the haul on display but did not give more details.
Illegal drug use and sales have been rising in recent years in Iraq, posing a challenge to the country’s security forces as they struggle to maintain the peace nationwide.
Iraq was long considered a corridor for drugs trafficking to neighbouring countries.
Since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, drugs sales and consumption in Iraq have increased amid a deteriorated security situation, soaring rates of unemployment and corruption.
Crystal methamphetamine, the most popular narcotic in the country, is a white crystalline drug ingested through inhalation or injection.
Drugs have been mainly produced and smuggled from Iran, according to Iraqi officials, but recently, locally made narcotics have been found by Iraqi police and security services.