Iraqi and Syrian security forces have seized 370kg of drugs in a joint operation in Syria to crack down on smuggling networks, Iraqi authorities said on Wednesday.
The General Directorate of Narcotics Control at the Ministry of Interior said several suspects wanted in other countries had been arrested in the operation. It did not say when the bust took place or the number of people detained. It was also unclear whether the move was linked to an operation announced by Syrian authorities on Monday.
“The operation is part of a series of joint efforts with neighbouring countries to combat drug trafficking and organised crime,” the ministry said in a statement.
It added that Iraqi authorities carried out another “successful” operation with Kuwait, but did not provide further details.
The seizure on Wednesday is the second drugs bust announced by Iraq in partnership with Syria. In July, Iraqi counter-narcotics forces seized more than 1.35 million Captagon pills in a raid in Syria’s capital Damascus. An operation in Lebanon was announced in August.
Captagon is a highly addictive amphetamine trafficked to countries across the Middle East. Millions of pills were produced in Syria under the regime of former president Bashar Al Assad, with Syria accounting for about 80 per cent of world production, the New Lines Institute think tank said.
The global Captagon market is worth about $10 billion a year. The drug was a vital source of cash for the Assad government during the Syrian civil war. In 2021, Damascus is estimated to have made more than $5 billion from the sale of Captagon, the New Lines Institute said.
Despite many tonnes of the drug being seized, the trade has fuelled addiction in countries including Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
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.
The haul, one of the largest in Iraq, was intercepted with the assistance of Saudi Arabia‘s drug enforcement agency.