ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s interior ministry said Monday that coordination with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in counter-narcotics operations has reached unprecedented levels, as authorities continue joint efforts to tackle drug trafficking across the country.
"There is an unmatched and productive coordination between the [Iraqi] Border Forces Command and Peshmerga forces,” Abbas al-Bahadli, spokesperson for Iraq's interior ministry, told Rudaw, adding that a joint operations room includes officers from the federal interior and defense ministries as well as the Kurdistan Region’s security agencies.
Iraqi authorities have stepped up efforts to combat narcotics trafficking in recent years. Once primarily a transit route, Iraq has increasingly become a destination for drugs, raising alarm among officials and the public. Baghdad and Erbil have formed joint teams to counter drug trafficking and have conducted coordinated anti-narcotics operations.
Bahadli said that “in coordination with the narcotics directorates and Kurdistan Region intelligence, we were able to arrest a large number of narcotics traffickers and foreign worker smugglers,” adding that the cooperation “has filled the security gaps in mountainous areas.