An Iraqi “under the influence of drugs” killed his mother, brother and two sisters in an area of central Iraq that has become an important route for traffickers in recent years, we learned on Tuesday from from a police source.
Ali Habib, born in 1999, was ‘under the influence’ of an unspecified drug when he ‘shot dead four members of his family: his mother, his brother and his two sisters’ overnight from Monday to Tuesday , said a local police official who wished to remain anonymous. He was then arrested.
No reason has been advanced to explain his action.
The quadruple murder took place in Kut, the capital of Wasit. This province bordering Iran has become a major route for drug trafficking, especially crystal meth (a highly addictive synthetic drug), in the same way as the neighboring provinces.
The security forces have intensified their operations in this area and announce seizures of narcotics or the arrest of traffickers almost every day.
According to police and Western diplomats stationed in Iraq, the drugs originated in Lebanon, Syria and Iran.
But Iraq is not just a transit country: the sale and consumption of narcotics have exploded there in recent years.
In December 2021, the Interior Ministry’s anti-drug unit identified the provinces of Basra and Missane as the main regions in the south in terms of trafficking and consumption.
