Iraq emerging as key route in global drugs trade

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

BAGHDAD (AFP) — War-torn Iraq is emerging as a key conduit in the global drugs trade as criminal gangs exploit its porous border with Iran to channel their illicit goods to the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The Iraqi authorities say that since the 2003 US-led invasion the trade in illegal opiates, cannabis and synthetic pharmaceuticals has risen steadily, and that many drugs originating in Afghanistan enter Iraq via Iran.

Statistics are hard to come by in devastated Iraq, but the Baghdad government says a rising number of traffickers are being caught at border crossings with Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

"A large numbers of smugglers are being arrested," interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf told AFP, adding that many were being...