BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A force of the popular crowd in Iraq yesterday arrested the leader of the gambling and roulette mafia, prostitution, selling and buying women and drugs with 25 of his followers in a security operation in response to a request by Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.
The Directorate of Security of the popular crowd in a statement that its forces carried out a qualitative operation resulted in the arrest of Hamza al-Shammari, the leader of the Grand Mafia in Iraq, which controls all places of gambling
Prostitution and drug trafficking.
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"Twenty-five of his followers and officials who were alleged to belong to the popular crowd and have false identities were arrested and some Iraqi youth were involved in drug abuse and forced into gambling halls to earn millions of dollars a day," the statement said.
The statement pointed out that the security department of the crowd handed over the wanted with all the confiscated materials, including "narcotic substances" to the national security, in order to investigate them and bring them to justice.
The statement said that the operation was under the guidance of the Prime Minister to head the popular rally.
Last week, Iraqi media and websites published videos showing a popular crowd arresting three "roulette halls" at the Meridian Hotel in central Baghdad.
Commenting on these campaigns, the head of the former Security and Defense Committee in the Iraqi parliament, Governor of Zamili, said elements claiming to be affiliated with the popular crowd and described them as corrupt in the security services and senior officers and politicians influential, involved in helping the owners of gambling and drug dealing, pointing to the presence of foreign experts from Russia Cyprus, Turkey and Lebanon in these hotels to manage roulette with a number of customers, and pay $ 2 million per year per hotel.