Iraqi authorities destroyed, on Sunday, about six tons of narcotic substances, such as cocaine, hashish, and Captagon pills, which were seized and preserved over ten years, as witnessed by an AFP journalist.
The operation took place in front of the media in a desert area adjacent to a military base near Baghdad. At the same time, the Iraqi Minister of Health, Salih al-Hasnawi, explained that the damaged quantity, amounting to 5 tons and 900 kilograms, was seized by the security forces at the border crossings and in different locations in Iraq.
During a press conference from the site, the minister said that from 2009 to today, no destruction operation of this magnitude had taken place in Iraq.
The drugs were placed in a sand pit, fuel was poured over them, and they were burned.
Among the destroyed quantities were 54 million narcotic pills, including 5 million Captagon pills, as well as 350 kilograms of cocaine, as confirmed by a government official and a judicial official who were present during the press conference.
These narcotic substances had been stored since 2009 in the forensic medicine department’s warehouses, said Suhaib Daham, deputy head of the Rusafa Court of Appeal and head of the Drug Destruction Committee.
He said, “The reason it hasn’t been destroyed yet… is because the incinerator in the judicial request isn’t qualified to destroy the volumes.”
Drugs have become a serious challenge in Iraq, where drug trafficking and abuse have increased in recent years, especially in the south and central regions of the country.
Recently, the security forces have strengthened operations to seize narcotics and arrest smugglers.
