Iraq arrested over 3,500 on drug charges in six months: Interior ministry

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Baghdad has arrested more than 3,500 suspects on drug-related charges during the first six months of the year and seized nearly 2,000 kilograms of narcotics, Iraq’s interior ministry said Tuesday, as the country ramps up efforts to combat the spread of illegal drugs.

“The first half of this year saw the seizure of 1,977 kilograms of narcotics, in addition to the arrest of 3,553 defendants on drug-related charges,” Miqdad Miri, head of relations and media at the interior ministry, said in a Baghdad press conference.

Of those arrested, “58 were sentenced to death, while 236 others were sentenced to life imprisonment,” he added.

Despite imposing severe penalties, Iraq continues to face an escalating drug problem that has intensified since the US invasion in 2003, with bouts of regional turmoil and ensuing cross-border trafficking have led to increased availability of illegal substances in the country.

Iraq’s stringent narcotics laws, which impose death or life sentences for drug-related offenses, are a response to the severity of the crisis but have yet to curb the increasing drug use and trafficking fully.

Baghdad has also “carried out 17 operations” abroad to combat drug trafficking in cooperation with neighboring and regional countries over the same period, Miri said.

He stressed that the country has seen an 18 percent drop in overall crime rates in the first six months of the year.

In January, Iraq’s National Security Service (INSS) announced that, in 2025, it had arrested more than 800 individuals on drug-related charges, in addition to seizing hundreds of kilograms of narcotic substances.

In 2024, Iraqi authorities arrested around 14,500 suspects on drug-related charges and issued death sentences for 144 suspected drug traffickers. At least 454 others were sentenced to life (20 years in Iraqi law), according to official data.