United Kingdom and Iraq reach agreement to boost cooperation in fighting drug trafficking and terrorism.

On Monday, the British security minister promised further assistance from the United Kingdom to the Iraqi government in its fight against drug manufacturing and trafficking.

Tom Tugendhat, the British security minister, was in Baghdad on Monday, where he stated that the two countries wanted to “build on our strong counterterrorism cooperation” and “identify and address shared serious organized crime threats,” such as “human smuggling, trafficking, narcotics, and money laundering that work together as a criminal network that undermines the entire state of Iraq.” Although Iraq has predominantly functioned as a transit nation for narcotics in recent years, there have been hints that Iraq is also expanding towards manufacturing, notably of the amphetamine Captagon, which is largely manufactured in neighboring Syria.

Tugendhat claimed that last month, Iraqi officials found a plant in a region bordering Saudi Arabia that was making Captagon. They sell quite well in the Gulf state.

“There is always an overlap between drugs, human trafficking, terrorism, and violence,” Tugendhat told the Associated Press. “.Many of our regional partners and allies are also feeling the effects of criminal organizations, human trafficking, and illegal substances, and not only in Iraq. According to a statement released by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, his government has made “significant efforts” to fight narcotics and people trafficking.

Sudani claimed an agreement defining cooperation on these areas was about to be signed between the Iraqi and British interior ministries.

A British official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in accordance with laws, said that the agreements will center on exchanging information to help in the fight against terrorism and “serious organized crime.”