Türkiye launched an operation across 22 provinces Tuesday against fresh produce distributors suspected of manipulating vegetable and fruit prices and making illicit profits, with detention warrants issued for 41 company executives.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said 109 workplaces and residences were being searched simultaneously as part of the investigation into pricing in the fresh produce distribution market.
The suspects are accused of showing product supply as lower than it actually was and costs as higher than their real levels, allegedly creating inflated costs through forged producer receipts and manipulating fresh fruit and vegetable prices upward.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said the investigation was examining the "price journey of products from the field to the market."
Authorities obtained data from the Trade Ministry's Hall Registration System and the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry's Farmer Registration System, while the Tax Inspection Board under the Treasury and Finance Ministry prepared a comprehensive report, Gürlek said on the social media platform X.
The government is "resolutely continuing our fight against crimes that disrupt the economic order and generate unjust profits through price manipulation, while protecting the labor of our producers, the budgets of our citizens and the fair functioning of the market," the minister wrote.
As part of the probe, officials took statements from around 1,029 farmers to determine the prices at which products left producers and the conditions under which they reached suppliers.
The investigation found indications that some major suppliers operating in wholesale markets had used their market dominance to report product supply below actual levels and costs above their real levels, Gürlek said.
The companies allegedly created false costs by issuing forged producer receipts and used these methods to manipulate fresh produce prices upward and make illicit profits.
The investigation is being conducted under charges including influencing prices, violating the Tax Procedure Law, forgery of documents and laundering assets derived from crime.
"We will not allow any stage of the chain – from the field to the table – to be turned into a source of unjust profit at the expense of our producers' labor and our citizens' budgets," said Gürlek.
The annual consumer price index (CPI) in Türkiye maintained a downward trend in August and eased to 31.5%, from 31.8% a month ago, while monthly inflation was 1.84%.
Despite energy and education pushing headline inflation higher, growth in food prices was relatively benign.
Annual food inflation cooled to 33.79% last month, down from 37.53% in July, according to official data. Monthly food inflation came in at 0.22%.
The slow monthly increase in food prices was largely driven by a 2% decline in unprocessed food prices, particularly fresh fruits and vegetables.
Despite the cooling monthly trajectory, food remains the largest single contributor to the annual CPI figure.