Iraq seizes 35 kilos of opium, 236 kilos of captagon

Iraq said Thursday it had arrested a man in possession of 35 kilogrammes (77 pounds) of opium and more half a million captagon pills weighing 236 kilogrammes (520 pounds).

The suspect, an Iraqi citizen, was arrested in Dohuk province in the autonomous Kurdish region, the judiciary said.

He is suspected of being part of a "major drug trafficking network that also includes foreign nationals", a security source said.

Iraq has become a major transit point for drugs headed to the wealthy Gulf Arab states from neighbouring Syria, or from Afghanistan via Iran and Turkey.

Last month, it announced it had uncovered an underground captagon factory in the south, the first evidence of domestic production of the amphetamine-like drug.