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1.5 Drug trafficking: international criminals capitalising on Iraq’s
insecurity
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“Security is fragile, and criminals are taking advantage of it to weaken the government.”
Security guard
Baghdad, May 2008 |
Increasing involvement in drug smuggling and criminal activities
A number of Iraq’s armed groups and militias are capitalising on the ongoing low levels of
security and the extremely limited state presence in many regions to increase their funding
opportunities through involvement in international drug smuggling and local opium
production. Field research indicates that Iraqis believe that criminals are taking advantage
of the current security environment, and that the country is currently experiencing an
increase in drug cultivation and trafficking.
International drug monitoring bodies fear that drug trafficking and drug production are
growing problems in Iraq. Like Afghanistan, the organised trafficking of drugs is becoming
increasingly linked with insurgent groups and local power holders, and it has been
reported that Al Qaeda in Iraq’s participation in the production and trade of drugs in Iraq is
well-established. In recent years, the southern region of Iraq has operated as a hub for
the drug trafficking routes leading from the heroin laboratories in and around Afghanistan,
through Iran and the southern Iraqi city of Basra, and onwards to the Gulf States.
“We are tired of the crimes. There is no security.”
Young father
Baghdad, May 2008 |
According to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) there are two main
drug smuggling routes through Iraq, as well as ongoing movements across the Saudi-Iraqi
border. A northern route sees drugs move into the country from Iran, then move through
Turkey and the Balkans to Western Europe. Drugs also move along a second southern route,
from Iran through the southern Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, into the Gulf States.
Iraq as a drug producing country
Iraq is no longer simply a transit country in the drug trade: since May 2007, opium poppy
cultivation has been seen throughout Iraq. Areas such as Diwaniya (central Iraq) and
Nassariyah (south-east), Dain’ya, Baldaruz, Sa’adiya and Khalis (east) were all identified as
having some poppy cultivation, indicating Iraq could be a potential new supplier in the
heroin market. Increased poppy cultivation inside Iraq is particularly worrying as it
increases the opportunities militant groups have to tap the illegal trade and profit more
substantially from the value chain of illegal drug production.
Instability is creating a criminalised environment
As in other post-conflict zones, illegal activities are prospering in Iraq’s ongoing vacuum
sustained by lawlessness, corruption and weak governmental institutions. Although drug
trafficking may still be only an emerging illegal activity in Iraq, the potential for
insurgent and militant groups to tap the illegal drug economy should not be
underestimated. This could result in a situation in which the illegal economy is not only
entrenched in the political and other sectors of society, but also offers almost unlimited
scope in terms of spill over to other (international) criminal and terrorist or insurgent
activities.
Economic development and job creation vital
With the instability in Iraq – as in Afghanistan and Somalia - creating a breeding ground
for organised crime, it is clear that the country’s security problems cannot be resolved by
military means alone. The lack of economic development and jobs is a public security
problem, and Iraq’s extensive unemployment problem must be urgently addressed, if only to
prevent young Iraqis from being drawn into organised criminal groups.
“The lack of jobs here is the main reason for the violence.”
Policeman, 20
Baghdad, May 2008 |