Damascus, Jan. 15 (SANA) Syria’s Narcotics Department, in coordination with Iraq’s General Directorate for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Affairs, has carried out a joint security operation targeting an international criminal network specializing in the manufacture, promotion and smuggling of narcotics, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
The ministry said the operation was conducted within the framework of regional and international security cooperation to combat transnational organized crime and followed advanced intelligence and operational coordination between the two sides.
According to the statement, the operation was the result of systematic intelligence work that included information gathering, analysis and exchange, as well as monitoring the network’s structure, logistics routes and operating methods. This enabled synchronized and precise field measures across a geographic area that included Homs province and Damascus Countryside in central and southern Syria, as well as locations inside Iraq.
The ministry said two suspects were arrested inside Syrian territory, and a third one was arrested inside Iraq.
Authorities also seized approximately 2.5 million Captagon pills, describing the operation as a major bust that disrupted the network’s operational and logistical capabilities and cut off one of its main trafficking routes.
This operation comes after nearly a month from the previous joint operation with Iraqi authorities in which nearly 200.000 Captagon pills were being transported from Lebanon to Iraq through the Syrian territory.
