UN warns of Iraq becoming a major “drug conduit” in region
With the record seizure of $144 million worth of the potent stimulant captagon last year in Iraq, the country is increasingly becoming a critical drug conduit, stated a UN report on July 22nd, reports The New Arab and Arab News.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report found that Iraq “has been experiencing a dramatic surge in drug trafficking and consumption for the past five years”.
Iraqi authorities have seized 24 million captagon tablets, the equivalent of over 4.1 tonnes in 2023 alone. The record-high seizure has an estimated “retail value” ranging from $84 million to $144 million.
Captagon seizures in Iraq have “tripled between 2022 and 2023”, with the overall amount in the latter year being 34 times higher than in 2019.
Iraq stands as a “critical juncture in the complex trafficking dynamics observed in the Near and Middle East region”, said the UNDOC report, which found methamphetamine and captagon as the most common narcotics passing through the country.
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Captagon was initially derived from a once-legal treatment for narcolepsy and attention disorder. Now, the illegal substance is trafficked throughout the Middle East, with Syria being the main country of origin and Saudi Arabia by far the biggest market for consumption.
82% of the captagon seized in the region between 2019 and 2023 originated in Syria, followed by neighbouring Lebanon at 17%, according to the UNDOC report.
Most of the captagon is transported through the porous 600-kilometre border between Syria and Iraq, both countries scarred by conflict and now fertile grounds for drug trafficking. Iraqi authorities have still been trying to clamp down on the illegal trade, with seizures increasing almost sixfold in 2023 compared to 2019.
Highly addictive methamphetamine stimulants primarily produced in Afghanistan have also regularly flowed through Iraq, destined to land in the Gulf and Europe.
Iraq not only serves as a nexus of connections for those transporting narcotics but also offers a vast consumer market for stimulants. Domestic drug use has become rampant in the war-torn nation of 43 million people.
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The oil-rich Gulf states have put pressure on governments in the Levante who have recently stepped up their efforts to tackle drug trafficking.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani has called for regional cooperation at the Baghdad International Conference on Countering Narcotics, which experts and officials from neighbouring countries attended.
“Coordinating and cooperating to pursue and dismantle drug gangs will serve regional and international security,” in the fight against “cross border crime”, stated al-Sudani.
“We will support any effort aiming to eliminate drug hubs, manufacturing stations, and cutting off their supply chains.”
The New Arab / Arab News and agencies
