Authorities announced on Thursday that 27 suspects were detained in operations against oil theft from a pipeline in southeastern Turkey. The suspects are linked to the PKK terrorist organization and are accused of funneling revenues they had from the sales of stolen oil to the group.

The governorate of the province of Mardin in the southeast revealed in a statement that suspects detained in operations in the province and four other cities in the region, as well as in the cities of Istanbul, Kocaeli, and Antalya earlier this week, stole crude oil from the pipeline's sections in Mardin and Diyarbakır. The statement said police also seized 180,000 liters of oil, which is estimated to be stolen from the pipeline.

An inquiry revealed that suspects set up a small refinery to convert crude oil to fuel and earned as much as TL 2.1 million ($690,000) so far. Revenues were used to finance the activities of the PKK, the governorate said.

The group relies on drug and oil smuggling to finance its activities according to experts. It has been blamed for attacks against the pipelines to stop the oil flow and the theft of oil in the past.

Last year, the PKK carried out at least three attacks against oil and gas pipelines in the country.