Turkish authorities are reinforcing efforts to shut down the production and smuggling of drug substances every day with nationwide operations. Some 3,851 street dealers with links to drug smuggling were detained only in the last week, a statement by the General Security Directorate said Tuesday.
The statement said that the suspects were detained during operations in 66 provinces across Turkey.
Police seized 232 kilograms of hashish, 128 kilograms of heroin, 11 kilograms of “skunk” cannabis, 85 kilograms of methamphetamine, 1,5 kilograms of bonsai and a total of 200,355 drug pills in raids on the suspects’ properties.
Police also confiscated 40 guns along with TL 117,580 from the properties.
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.
