Baghdad: The antispasmodic drug benzhexol, which is used to treat Parkinson's disease but is also abused as a hallucinogen, was found in 12 million pills, according to Iraqi security forces on Friday.
During an operation, national security agents found the haul in an east Baghdad warehouse and also made six arrests. In recent months, anti-drug operations have been stepped up by Iraqi security forces, with reports of several high-profile seizures.
Iraq has served as a major conduit for traffickers of captagon, an amphetamine that is primarily produced in Syria but has its largest market in the rich Gulf states. Iraq and Syria share borders as well as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
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Prior to this raid, Iraqi authorities reported seizing three million Captagon pills near the Syrian border, a stimulant similar to amphetamine that has been sweeping the Middle East for years.
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The pills were found at the al-Qaim crossing between Syria's Deir Ezzor province and western Iraq's Anbar desert region; they had been concealed in apple crates and "loaded onto a refrigerator truck," according to the Iraqi border authority.
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The agency also said in a statement that the truck driver had been arrested.
Under the condition of anonymity, a border authority official told AFP that several different manufacturers of Captagon pills were included in the shipment from Syria into Iraq.
Recent months have seen an increase in drug operations by Iraqi security forces, with reports of several high-profile drug seizures.