The chief executive officer of a cosmetics company, who once served as head of the Turkish-American Business Association (TABA/AmCham) has been charged with cocaine smuggling, the Sabah newspaper reported. A.O.A. (identified only by initials) was arrested in December 2021, according to the report published on Wednesday as he was the "recipient" of a cargo of cocaine.

He was among six other company owners involved in the smuggling scheme. A. was implicated when 111 kilograms (244.7 pounds) of cocaine shipped from Columbia in two separate packages under the guise of "cosmetics products" were shipped to a business address in Istanbul linked to A.

The smuggling racket was exposed when German authorities alerted their Turkish counterparts over possible drug shipment from Colombia to Turkey through a route including Panama, the United States and Germany. In November, German customs officials had found "black cocaine" inside an air cargo at an undisclosed airport.

Turkish customs authorities greenlit the cargo delivery in a bid to capture their recipients red-handed. Gendarmerie officers raided the office where the shipment was delivered, detaining A. and others. The businessperson claimed he had no connection with the cargo but was remanded in custody four days after his detention, along with two other suspects. A court date is yet to be scheduled.