A nationwide operation titled "Chain 2" against bootleg alcohol was launched at 590 addresses in eight provinces, resulting in 176 of 217 suspects being taken into custody.
Speaking at a news conference in the southeastern Turkish province of Şanlıurfa on Wednesday, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu announced that "Chain 2" was launched amid a rising number of deaths from bootleg alcohol across the country.
Soylu stated that the Directorate of Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime of the General Directorate of Security carried out the operation across eight provinces targeting sellers of smuggled and bootleg alcohol.
Explaining that the aim of the operation was to determine the chain of production of fake and illicit alcohol and how it reaches the consumer, Soylu said: "There are now 12 criminal organizations operating in this area across around eight provinces. They have resorted to a range of techniques, including brand, label and tax label counterfeiting, where they create products in unsanitary conditions that endanger human health and attempt to resell them as disinfectants or surface cleaners. The operation has been carried out in response to the findings that they collected used alcohol bottles that had been discarded and filled them again using a variety of techniques, attempted to ship ethyl alcohol and aromas used in the manufacturing of bootleg alcohol to those who requested them via cargo, and attempted to conceal their identities by giving the wrong names to the cargo shipments."
In Elazığ, Gaziantep, Istanbul, Kocaeli, Muğla and Tekirdağ, 217 suspects were intended to be detained at 590 addresses across eight provinces, and approximately 176 suspects have been detained, Soylu said. "Unfortunately, this all happened prior to the new year due to the rise in demand for bootleg alcohol. This operation was carried out together with our (Department against Smuggling and Organized Crime) KOM Presidency and prosecutors' offices in other provinces, under the coordination of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, in order to punish those who try to play with the health of our nation by delivering this fake drink to the market and gain unjust enrichment by committing this fraud."
