Turkish security forces seized 42.5 kilograms of heroin from a vehicle with a foreign license plate in eastern Turkey's Erzincan province, the local Governor's Office said in a statement Tuesday.
Acting on a tip-off, police stopped and searched a Germany-licensed car belonging to a suspect identified as T.N., the statement said.
Police seized a total of 42.5 kilograms of heroin divided into 92 packages in the trunk of the vehicle with the help of sniffer dog "Odin."
The 34-year-old suspect, who was revealed to be holding German and Greek citizenship, was sent to court for legal proceedings.
Turkey, a transit country for drug smugglers working between Asia and Europe, is looking to curb domestic drug use. In 2014, the Turkish government launched "The Rapid Action Plan Against Drugs" to counter drug abuse and smuggling. Since then, Turkey has been fighting on multiple counter-narcotics fronts. It targets addicts through better rehabilitation and awareness campaigns. It also targets smugglers and small-time dealers with more operations carried out by newly-formed "narco teams" that especially focus on operations around schools and other places where the youth, the most vulnerable targets for drug peddlers, go.
