![Captagon pills are displayed along with a cup of cocaine at an office of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF), Anti-Narcotics Division in Beirut on June 11, 2010. [JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-102318368.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Iraqi authorities yesterday destroyed some 5.9 tonnes of illegal drugs including vast piles of cannabis, captagon and cocaine, in what officials said was the largest quantity to be destroyed since 2009.
The burning operation took place in a desert area adjacent to a military base near the capital, Baghdad.
The Iraqi Minister of Health, Saleh Al-Hasnawi, said the drugs were seized by the security forces at the border crossings and in various locations across Iraq.
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Speaking to reporters the minister said this is the largest quantity to be destroyed since 2009.
The drugs were placed in a sand pit, doused with fuel and burned.
The destroyed quantities included 54 million narcotic pills, including five million captagon pills, as well as 350 kilogrammes of cocaine, as confirmed by a government official and a judicial official who was present during the press conference.
The majority of these narcotics came from Iran, but also from neighbouring Lebanon and Syria, according to government officials.
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