Iraqi security agency says Kirkuk narcotics unit dismantles international drug network

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's National Security Service said its Kirkuk Narcotics Branch Directorate dismantled an international drug trafficking network and seized 20 kilograms of hashish. In a statement released on Tuesday, the agency said the operation was carried out across the border as part of security coordination with a neighboring country. The NSS said intelligence surveillance and high-level security coordination by the Kirkuk unit prevented the network from smuggling the narcotics into Iraq and stopped the group from expanding its criminal activities. According to the statement, the operation was the result of continuous intelligence work aimed at tracking suspects operating across the border. The seized shipment was confiscated and all elements of the network were fully neutralized, the agency said. No further details on the suspects or the neighboring country involved were immediately available.