Turkish anti-narcotics police units seized 2.55 million ecstasy pills Thursday in simultaneous operations in northwestern Istanbul, Kırklareli and Edirne provinces.
Istanbul police launched an investigation following a tip-off that a large shipment of drugs from the Netherlands would be distributed throughout the country, and shipments of heroin coming from Asia would be transferred to Europe.
A truck carrying the drugs was taken under surveillance after its entry into Turkey from the Kapıkule Border Gate with Bulgaria, and police units monitored its entire route to find out the people involved in the smuggling, and the final buyer of the drugs.
As the truck reached an address in Istanbul's Beylikdüzü district, police units commenced simultaneous raids targeting the truck and related addresses in Istanbul's Avcılar and Kırklareli's Babaeski districts and Edirne city center, detaining five suspects.
In the largest bust in the country's history, 56 kilograms of heroin, 120 kilograms of skunk cannabis, five kilograms of opium gum, 600 kilograms of cocaine and 770 kilograms of acid were seized n addition to the ecstasy pills.
