Iraq torches giant haul of illegal drugs/node/2218326/middle-east
Iraq torches giant haul of illegal drugs
Iraqi government officials destroy nearly six tons of drugs, some of which had been in storage for more than a decade, in Baghdad's Nahrawan area on December 18, 2022. (AFP)
The drugs had been seized by “forces at border crossings” and other sites in Iraq, he said, with some of them stored for several years
Updated 19 December 2022
AFP
BAGHDAD: Iraq on Sunday burnt some six tons of illegal drugs including vast piles of cannabis, Captagon and cocaine, in what officials said was the largest destruction for over a decade.
Government officials, wearing white coveralls and face masks, piled the drugs in holes dug into the sand, doused them with fuel and set them on fire.
Health Minister Saleh Al-Hasnawi, speaking at the event outside a military base near Baghdad, said it was the first “destruction operation of this magnitude” since 2009.
The drugs had been seized by “forces at border crossings” and other sites in Iraq, he said, with some of them stored for several years.
Security forces have intensified narcotics operations in recent years with near-daily announcements of drug seizures and arrests of traffickers.
Areas bordering Iran have become major narcotic trafficking routes for drugs, including crystal methamphetamine. Vast plumes of black smoke rose into the sky as the stocks were set on fire, which included 350 kg of cocaine and 54 million pills — including 5 million pills of the amphetamine-type stimulant Captagon, a government official said.
Quantities of crystal methamphetamine and hashish were also destroyed.
The majority of the destroyed drugs originated from Iran, but Lebanon and Syria were also sources, the government official said.
While some drug traffickers use Iraq as a transit point, the country has also seen an explosion in domestic sales and consumption in recent years.
Trump warns Iran of ‘very traumatic’ outcome if no nuclear deal
Updated 5 sec ago
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump threatened Iran Thursday with “very traumatic” consequences if it fails to make a nuclear deal — but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was skeptical about the quality of any such agreement. Speaking a day after he hosted Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said he hoped for a result “over the next month” from Washington’s negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program. “We have to make a deal, otherwise it’s going to be very traumatic, very traumatic. I don’t want that to happen, but we have to make a deal,” Trump told reporters. “This will be very traumatic for Iran if they don’t make a deal.” Trump — who is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to pressure Iran — recalled the US military strikes he ordered on Tehran’s nuclear facilities during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in July last year. “We’ll see if we can get a deal with them, and if we can’t, we’ll have to go to phase two. Phase two will be very tough for them,” Trump said. Netanyahu had traveled to Washington to push Trump to take a harder line in the Iran nuclear talks, particularly on including the Islamic Republic’s arsenal of ballistic missiles. But the Israeli and US leaders apparently remained at odds, with Trump saying after their meeting at the White House on Wednesday that he had insisted the negotiations should continue.
- ‘General skepticism’ -
Netanyahu said in Washington on Thursday before departing for Israel that Trump believed he was laying the ground for a deal. “He believes that the conditions he is creating, combined with the fact that they surely understand they made a mistake last time when they didn’t reach an agreement, may create the conditions for achieving a good deal,” Netanyahu said, according to a video statement from his office. But the Israeli premier added: “I will not hide from you that I expressed general skepticism regarding the quality of any agreement with Iran.” Any deal “must include the elements that are very important from our perspective,” Netanyahu continued, listing Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for armed groups such as the Palestinian movement Hamas, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Hezbollah in Lebanon. “It’s not just the nuclear issue,” he said. Despite their differences on Iran, Trump signaled his strong personal support for Netanyahu as he criticized Israeli President Isaac Herzog for rejecting his request to pardon the prime minister on corruption charges. “You have a president that refuses to give him a pardon. I think that man should be ashamed of himself,” Trump said on Thursday. Trump has repeatedly hinted at potential US military action against Iran following its deadly crackdown on protests last month, even as Washington and Tehran restarted talks last week with a meeting in Oman. The last round of talks between the two foes was cut short by Israel’s war with Iran and the US strikes. So far, Iran has rejected expanding the new talks beyond the issue of its nuclear program. Tehran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, and has said it will not give in to “excessive demands” on the subject.
