Iraqi security forces shot down glider carrying drugs
The motor hang glider shot down by Iraqi security forces. Sky News Arabia image.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi security forces shot down a motor hang glider carrying one million Captagon pills, on Saturday, in Basra governorate near the borders with Kuwait, according to Sky News Arabia.
“A motor hang glider is coming from Iran,” security source, who preferred to remain anonymous, told AFP.
The Iraqi Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency (FIIA) issued a statement later that they received intelligence information on Friday that a motor hang glider locally made was flying in Basra airspace.
The FIIA statement added that Iraqi forces combed the area and started shooting at the glider, forcing the pilot to land and escape to one of the neighboring countries, without specifying the name of the country.
The statement also mentioned that around one million Captagon pills carried in the small glider were seized and they were intended to be smuggled into the Iraqi territories.
The Iraqi security forces intensified its operations pursuing drug dealers recently and announce, almost daily, the seizure of quantities of drugs and the arrest of smugglers.
In late April, Iraqi authorities announced that they discovered two international drug trafficking networks in Baghdad where ten people, including five from different Arab nationalities, were arrested, and around six million Captagon pills were seized.
During the first three months of 2022, Iraqi security forces arrested 18 drug dealers in Anbar governorate bordering Syria, according to a security source in the governorate.