Lawless Iraq is 'key drug route'

Drug smugglers exploiting internal chaos in Iraq have turned the country into a transit route for Afghan heroin, an influential drug agency says. High levels of insurgent violence and porous borders have drawn traffickers to Iraq, according to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). The board says Jordan has seized large quantities of drugs on the Iraq border. Authorities in Afghanistan say their drug problem is so severe the country's existence could be threatened. Drugs are transported through Iraq and into Jordan, where they are moved onto traditional trafficking routes into Europe. Apart from heroin and other opium-based drugs, Jordan has seized significant amount of cannabis resin and amphetamine-type pills on its borders.

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