Erbil- Kirkuk customs chief arrested for corruption
The Iraqi authorities arrested head of the customs checkpoints between the disputed Kurdish province of Kirkuk and Kurdistan Region's capital Erbil, Iraq's Board of Integrity stated.
In a statement released Wednesday, the board pointed out that the chief, alongside other employees of the customs office, have been involved in corruption incidents, explaining they had taxed people by force.
The detainees were referred to court, the statement added.
The checkpoints were erected by the federal government in order to tax trucks passing between the two regions, after the Iraqi forces took over the disputed Kurdish territories in late 2017, a move which was considered "illegal" by Kurdistan Region Government.
Two weeks ago, the parliament’s Economic Committee issued a decree to remove the customs checkpoints on the highways between Kirkuk-Erbil, Kirkuk-Sulaimaniya, and Dahok-Mosul, according to a press release by the Ministry of Finance.