ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi military intelligence forces have seized 60,000 Captagon pills in the Anbar desert, thwarting an attempt by smugglers to transport the drugs using balloons equipped with GPS devices, an official said on Saturday.
Haider Mohammadawi, head of the media office for the Iraqi military intelligence service, told Rudaw on Saturday that the seizure was carried out during a security operation based on precise intelligence and ongoing field surveillance.
“During an operation, units of the Military Intelligence Directorate, in coordination with the intelligence and security section of the Fifth Infantry Division, relying on precise intelligence information and ongoing field efforts, were able to seize 60,000 narcotic pills of the Captagon type,” he said.
According to Mohammadawi, the Captagon pills had been prepared for smuggling via balloons fitted with GPS tracking systems, a method designed to bypass border patrols by directing the balloons to land at pre-determined locations.
“The attempt was foiled before the shipment could reach its target,” he said, adding that the balloons were intended to cross border security barriers unnoticed.
The official noted that the operation was part of a broader security campaign aimed at cutting off drug supply routes and dismantling networks involved in the trafficking of narcotics.
According to figures from Iraq’s interior ministry, security forces dismantled 1,201 drug trafficking networks last year, including 1,030 domestic and 171 international networks. Authorities also seized more than 14 tons and 20 kilograms of narcotic substances during the same period.