Interior Ministry reports a decrease in crime

INA- Baghdad
 
The Ministry of Interior's Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency's Directorate of Organized Crime confirmed that there is strong collaboration with international organizations to combat organized crime. It also revealed that fewer crimes were committed in the current year due to the security services' increasing capacity to hunt down criminals. The agency also confirmed the arrest of several individuals on suspicion of human trafficking, smuggling antiquities, speculating, and smuggling both foreign and local currency.
 
 
 
International Cooperation 
 
 
 
Director of Operations to Combat Organized Crime, Brigadier General Hussein Al-Tamimi, stated in an interview with the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "The Ministry of Interior, represented by the Director of Organized Crime, has high cooperation and coordination with the International Police Directorate, and a strategy has been developed for the work of the Directorate of Combating Organized Crime for the coming year to follow up on outlaws, especially those who exploit loopholes to carry out crimes or exploit some age bracket through human trafficking, smuggling antiquities, and arresting them before the crime is committed." 
 
 
"The directorate has flexibility and mutual support with the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force in addition to other international organizations specialized in money laundering issues, as well as human trafficking issues and others specialized in antiquities smuggling," he continued, indicating that "There is high coordination with international organizations, including the European Union and the World Health Organization."


Organized crime rates in 2023
 
 
Regarding the organized crime rates for 2023, Brigadier General Hussein Al-Tamimi stated: "The Directorate of Combating Organized Crime follows up on varying percentages, but overall there is a decrease in organized crime and some crimes have slightly increased in rate."


Numbers of organized crimes in 2023
 
 Al-Tamimi went on to say, "The directorate was able to arrest a large number of defendants during the current year with regard to organized crimes and in varying numbers from one crime to another," pointing out that there has been a recent rise in crimes involving the smuggling of antiquities and the sale of human organs, as well as human trafficking. The Directorate for Combating Organized Crime works in all governorates of Iraq, and its detachments are always on the go.


Most monitored crimes in 2023
 
 
In the interview, Brigadier General Hussein Al-Tamimi, the Director of Anti-Organized Crime Operations, stated that "the most monitored crimes during the current year were the smuggling of antiquities, the trafficking of human beings and human organs, as well as crimes of customs and tax evasion, in addition to the opening of beauty centers, unlicensed pharmacies, and fake clinics, all of which were closed, in addition to dollar speculation crimes, where traders, currency speculators, and smugglers, as well as people who disobeyed the Ministers' directives regarding the issue of dealing with Iraqi dinars instead of dollars in daily transactions in markets, centers, and trade exhibitions, as well as car showrooms and the buying and selling of apartments."


How to combat organized crime


According to Brigadier General Hussein Al-Tamimi, the process of combating organized crime involves obtaining information from specialized detachments in the Directorate of Combating Organized Crime, having them audited by specialized personnel after obtaining original approvals from the Undersecretary for Intelligence and Federal Investigations Affairs. The information is then presented to the judiciary for approval.

The Directorate for Combating Organized Crime is associated with the Ministry's Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency. It functions in compliance with the laws assigned to it across a range of areas, beginning with the fight against human trafficking, money laundering, drug smuggling, and the antiquities trade. Other responsibilities assigned to the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime include the smuggling of currency, the campaign to support the Iraqi dinar, and other campaigns like daily market monitoring and high price monitoring.