ANKARA – Turkey introduced an enormous motion on Thursday cocaine arrestarresting 13 individuals, together with a distinguished Lebanese-Venezuelan drug lord.
Turkish Inside Minister Ali Yerlikaya mentioned police had seized 608 kilos of the drug (about £1,340) in raids within the northwestern provinces of Tekirdag and Kocaeli, in addition to within the Mediterranean resort of Antalya.
The arrest marks “the third largest amount of cocaine seized in a single operation in Turkey,” Yerlikaya wrote on social media platform seized cocaine within the Turkish state. port metropolis of Mersin.
About 13 individuals, together with 4 foreigners, have been arrested within the raids, Yerlikaya mentioned. He recognized the alleged chief as Dani Talal Awad Abu Shanab, a twin Lebanese-Venezuelan citizen. He didn’t establish the opposite detainees.
About 580 kilos of the seized cocaine was present in liquid kind, and one other 20.5 kilos was disguised in fertilizer, the Turkish minister mentioned. Officers additionally found greater than 830 kilograms of chemical substances used for narcotics processing, in addition to a precision scale and a press.
Authorities decided that the smugglers had shipped the narcotics from a warehouse in Tekirdag to Antalya, the place they deliberate to promote a few of the cocaine. on the road, Yerlikaya mentioned.
In complete, through the “NARKOÇELİK-11” operations have been carried out in opposition to the “Worldwide Narcotics” Organized Crime Group, led by Dani Talal Awad Abushanap, a Lebanese and Venezuelan nationwide, in 3️⃣ provinces based mostly in Kocaeli;
6️⃣0️⃣8️⃣ Kilograms of cocaine and
8️⃣2️⃣7️⃣ kilos 5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ grams… pic.twitter.com/DmK5KPG04c— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) April 11, 2024
Police have arrested dozens of drug lords actions since Yerlikaya took workplace in June, prompting hypothesis that earlier than he took the job, authorities had intentionally scaled again efforts in opposition to illicit cash in an effort to ease the nation’s exhausting forex disaster. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, former chief of the primary opposition Republican Folks’s Social gathering, had accused the federal government of “turning Turkey right into a drug lord cash laundering enterprise in 2022.”
Among the many ringleaders arrested below Yerlikaya is Nenad Petrak, of Croatian descent, who was probably the most wished drug smugglers in Europe. He was arrested in Istanbul in November.
The Monetary Motion Activity Drivea global watchdog, graylisted Turkey in 2021 for failing to deal with cash laundering and terrorist financing.
