site.btaTurkiye Customs Seize 1.3 Tonnes of Narcotics at Border Crossings

A total of 1.326 tonnes of narcotics were seized in two operations by Turkiye’s customs authorities at border checkpoints near Odesa and Tekirdag, the Ministry of Trade said on Saturday.

The announcement, reported by NTV television, detailed that the anti-drug operations took place at the Tekirdag and Ipsala-Kipi crossings on the border between Turkiye and Greece, close to the junction of the Turkiye, Bulgaria and Greece frontiers.

Anti-narcotics teams intercepted 1,153 kilogrammes of illegal drugs during an inspection at the Tekirdag border zone when a suspicious vehicle was stopped while entering Turkiye. Separately, 173 kilogrammes of narcotics were discovered in a different vehicle at the Ipsala checkpoint, also as it attempted to enter Turkiye.

The total value of the seized drugs is estimated at TRY 809 million. The drivers of both vehicles have been detained.

The Republican prosecutor’s offices in Tekirdag and Edirne have launched investigations into the attempted drug smuggling.