SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Police in Sulaimani said on Monday they detained a group of people on charges of drug using and trafficking in the province.
In a statement, the directorate of police in Sulaimani said the group included nine people were arrested in separate operations in Arbat sub-district and the neighborhoods of Hwana, Kani Kurda and Sarchnar in Sulaimani city.
Part of the suspects aged between 26 and 42 years old were using drugs when they were detained, police added.
“An amount of narcotics including heroin and shisha were also seized,” police stated.
Kurdish officials have warned that drug trafficking threatens to become an epidemic if anti-narcotics forces fail to curtail its rise in the Kurdistan Region.
The security forces seized more than 555 kilograms of narcotics including heroin, methamphetamine and hashish in 2020, according to the Region’s directorate of anti-narcotics.
According to security officials, some of the drugs that they seize are imported illegally from Iran.
