Iraq: Authorities seize record captagon pills concealed in vegetable shipment

Iraqi authorities have made a significant bust, seizing over 500,000 captagon pills hidden in a vegetable shipment from a neighboring country.

The haul is part of a larger effort to combat the thriving trade of the banned stimulant, which has seen a massive surge in Iraq.

Captagon, an amphetamine-type drug, has been flooding into Iraq through its porous 600-kilometer border with Syria.

In recent years, Iraq has become a key conduit for the drug, with authorities regularly announcing large seizures. A recent multi-province operation led to the seizure of 2.5 million captagon pills.

The issue is pressing, as Iraq has transformed from a transit country to a nation grappling with rampant drug use, particularly captagon and crystal methamphetamine.

According to a United Nations report, Iraqi authorities confiscated a record-breaking 24 million captagon tablets in 2023, valued between $84 million and $144 million.

Governments in the region are under pressure from oil-rich Gulf states, the primary markets for captagon, to crack down on trafficking.

As a result, authorities have intensified their efforts to disrupt the supply chain and curb the spread of this illicit trade.