Major heroin bust in Turkey
2004-10-23 16:20
Istanbul - Turkish police have seized 177 kilograms of heroin in a series of busts in Istanbul and detained 20 suspected drug dealers, authorities said on Saturday.
In the largest operation, conducted on Tuesday, police seized 82kg of heroin and detained 11 alleged dealers, police said.
That operation was carried out in coordination with authorities in the Netherlands and followed the arrest of three alleged Turkish drug smugglers in Amsterdam in August, said Tufan Erguder, head of the narcotics division of Istanbul police.
Erguder said two smaller operations were also carried out recently in which 95kg of heroin was seized and nine suspected dealers detained. He did not say when those operations took place.
Turkey is a major transit point for drugs smuggled from the Middle East and Asia to Europe.
In Turkey's largest heroin bust in February, police in Istanbul seized more than a ton of the drug.
- AP