Sulaimaniyah Asayish: 514 Kilograms of Drugs Seized in 80 Days and 51 Suspects Arrested

Peregraf

The Sulaimaniyah Security Forces (Asayish) have successfully seized over half a ton of drugs and arrested 51 suspects in less than three months.

According to a statement issued by the Sulaimaniyah Asayish, from May 14 to August 1, 2024, they confiscated 514 kilograms of various drugs, including cocaine, crystals, marijuana, opium, liquid crystals, and captagon pills. During this period, 51 suspected drug traffickers were apprehended.

"The traffickers attempted to employ new techniques to smuggle drugs from border areas to the cities, with the intention of distributing them to central and southern Iraq and other countries in the region," the Asayish stated.

In a footage released by the Asayish, one of the traders recounted, "On May 14, 2024, I went to Penjwen to procure drugs. We concealed 50 kilograms in the car's gasoline tank, which had been modified for this purpose. We intended to transport the drugs to Mosul. Upon arriving in Sulaimaniyah city, we were arrested."

Another trader revealed, "A group of friends and I transported 10 kilograms of crystal drugs from Qaladze to sell in the Dukan district, but we were apprehended by the Asayish forces beforehand."

Late last month, two drug dealers engaged in a confrontation with Asayish forces in Sulaimaniyah's Sarchnar neighborhood. Both dealers were arrested with injuries, and a security guard was also injured.

In mid-September, the Sulaimaniyah Asayish forces destroyed approximately 250 million pills and 125 kilograms of drugs. "Drug trafficking has increased. In the first seven months of this year, 638 drug suspects have been arrested, 200 to 250 of whom are drug addicts, while the rest are traffickers and sellers," the Asayish reported.

According to statistics provided by the KRG Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Kwestan Mohammed, on October 18, 2023, "out of 5,283 prisoners in correctional facilities in the Kurdistan Region, 1,970 individuals were sentenced for drug use and trafficking". "This represents one-fifth of all prisoners in correctional facilities."

"Of these drug-related prisoners, 480 are traffickers and 617 are users. In terms of gender, 1,230 are male and 74 are female".

According to statistics from the Coordination Network of Organizations, which partially focuses on drug-related activities, only 142 people were arrested for drug offenses in 2014. However, this number increased to 2,017 arrests in 2022.

The drugs seized by security forces in the Kurdistan Region include shisha, opium, hashish, crystal, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and various pills.