Iraq hands life sentence to Australia-based drug trafficker

Iraq's judiciary announced on Tuesday that it sentenced drug lord Kazem Hamad, notorious for drug trafficking in Australia, to life in prison.

The National Centre for International Judicial Cooperation (NCIJC) said that Iraq's Karkh criminal court issued a life sentence against Hamad for "drug trafficking".

It added that the sentence includes "the confiscation of his movable and immovable assets in accordance with the law".

Hamad was deported from Australia to Iraq in 2023, where he was arrested in January this year "in response to an official request from Australia," the NCIJC said.

He "is considered one of the most wanted individuals by Iraqi and international judiciaries," the centre said, adding that Hamad smuggled "large quantities of narcotics" into Iraq and Australia.

He is also "linked to transnational organised crime gangs involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, murder, kidnapping, extortion, and organised violence," the NCIJC said.