Iraq seizes over 500,000 Captagon pills

Iraq authorities announced on October 17th that they had seized more than half a million Captagon pills, according to the Arab Weekly and agencies.

Authorities in Iraq regularly announce large hauls of Captagon, with the country being a major conduit for the drug, a lot of it trafficked across the border from Syria.

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In a statement, Iraq’s national security service said they were able to “seize more than 500,000 Captagon pills that were shipped in a shipment of vegetables coming from a neighbouring country”. It said the haul was made “after setting up an ambush that lasted for several days” in Anbar province, which borders Syria in the west of Iraq.

Iraq has faced an explosion of drug use in recent years, mostly of Captagon and crystal methamphetamine, after spending a long time mainly as a transit country,

The UN said in a report this July that last year alone authorities in Iraq had seized a record-high 24 million tablets of Captagon, the equivalent of over 4.1 tonnes, with an estimated “retail value” of between $84 million and $144 million.

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Regional governments have stepped up crackdowns on drug trafficking following pressure from the Gulf states, the main markets for Captagon whose media regularly report that the pills are made either by the Assad regime or Hezbollah.

The Arab Weekly and agencies