A huge dawn sweep by Ankara's narcotics police department yesterday led to the arrest of around 200 suspects, in the capital city's largest ever anti-drugs operation, police said.

Ankara Police Chief Mahmut Karaaslan told reporters following the raids that the 208 arrests were a record for a single police operation in Turkey.

Around 3,000 officers split into 600 teams, backed by sniffer dogs and two helicopters, targeted 257 addresses across the capital at 4 a.m. local time.

The provincial governor's office said 90 packages of heroin and 46 packets of crack cocaine were among the drugs seized, as well as more than 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of cannabis, 12 packages of synthetic cannabis and 417 opiates. Police also recovered 22 firearms and pieces of ammunition.

The raids were the result of a six-month investigation and come about one month after what police dubbed the country's largest operation against drug smugglers and peddlers. Some 913 suspects were captured in the nationwide operation.