Turkish police have detained more than 500 suspected drug traffickers in a large-scale operation across the capital, Ankara, on Thursday, April 17.
According to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, it was “the largest anti-narcotics operation” in the country’s history. The Interior Minister stated that 525 suspects were apprehended during the operation.
Thousands of police officers took part in the operation, which also involved sniffer dogs, drones, and helicopters. Authorities targeted more than 625 locations. Yerlikaya said the raids were the result of six months of technical and physical surveillance of each suspect. Many of those arrested are suspected of selling drugs “in neighborhoods and on the streets through online platforms,” Yerlikaya added.
The Ministry of the Interior announced that the crackdown will continue, with more arrests expected in the coming days.
According to reports, the raids in Turkey came shortly after a large-scale pan-European operation on Tuesday, April 16, targeting international drug trafficking and money laundering networks.
That operation, coordinated by Europol and police forces from the Netherlands, Turkey, Germany, Spain, and Belgium, resulted in more than 230 arrests and the seizure of assets worth $400 million.
