Only a few months into its term, Iraq’s government is suddenly enforcing a long-dormant law banning alcohol imports and arresting people over social media content deemed morally offensive. The crackdown has raised alarm among religious minorities and rights activists.

Some see the measures as an attempt by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to head off potential political challenges from religious conservatives and to distract from economic woes, such as rising prices and wild currency fluctuations.

The ban on the import, sale and production of alcohol was adopted in 2016, but was only published in the official gazette last month, making it enforceable. On Saturday, Iraq’s customs authority ordered all border crossings to impose the prohibition.

Although many liquor stores across Iraq continued business as usual — presumably using up their stocks — border crossings went dry overnight, with the exception of the northern, semi-autonomous Kurdish region which hasn’t enforced the ban. The price of alcohol, meanwhile, spiked due to tightened supply.

Ghazwan Isso manufactures arak, a popular anise-flavored spirit, at his factory in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city. He sells it, along with imported, foreign-made alcohol, at 15 stores in Baghdad.