Iraq seizes over 519,000 smuggled medicines and medical supplies in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's Interior Ministry announced that security forces seized 519,144 smuggled and unregulated medicines and medical supplies in a Baghdad operation and detained several suspects. The Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency caught the suspects in the act after conducting intelligence work aimed at protecting public health and tracking the trade in unregulated pharmaceuticals, according to a ministry statement. A joint task force was formed for the investigation, comprising agency personnel, the Baghdad Health Directorate's Rufese Inspection Unit and the Pharmacists' Syndicate. The team raided a warehouse in the Park al-Saadun area on Baghdad's Karkh side, where authorities confiscated large quantities of smuggled products, including drugs intended for human use. An inventory counted 428,794 smuggled human medicines and 90,350 smuggled medical items, totaling 519,144 products. The suspects face legal proceedings, with their files referred to the relevant judicial authorities. The ministry said the smuggling of medicines poses a direct threat to public health and that operations would continue.