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News (Media Awareness Project) - Turkey: Smuggling |
| Title: | Turkey: Smuggling |
| Published On: | 2002-04-02 |
| Source: | New York Times (NY) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-24 13:41:35 |
SMUGGLING
Turkey's Largest Haul of Drugs Is Said to Be From Afghanistan
ISTANBUL, April 1 -- Turkish police and American drug agents have seized
7.5 tons of unrefined morphine, worth an estimated $29 million, in the
biggest drug haul ever in Turkey, authorities said today.
The morphine, which can be processed to produce heroin, was believed to
have originated in Afghanistan and made its way to Turkey through Iran on
its way to European markets, the authorities said.
The drugs were seized Sunday night in a rural area near Sarkaya, about 40
miles east of Istanbul, and 12 people were arrested, Turkish police said.
The previous record for a heroin seizure in Turkey was about three tons,
discovered aboard a ship five years ago.
Maj. Gen. Adulkadir Yilmaz, commander of the military police who seized the
drugs, said the quantity was nearly twice the amount intercepted in Turkey
in the last five years, according to Anatolia Agency, the state-run news
service.
An American official confirmed that agents from the Drug Enforcement
Administration were involved in the investigation and the seizure of the drugs.
Authorities said the morphine base originated last year in Afghanistan and
that the arrests were the culmination of an investigation within Turkey
that had lasted for several months.
Turkey has been a common route for drugs smuggled out of Afghanistan, but
American officials said today that Turkish law enforcement agencies have
been improving their interdiction efforts.
Afghanistan has supplied as much as three-fourths of the world's opium,
from which the morphine and then heroin are produced, though production
dropped last year after a ban by the Taliban, who then controlled most of
the country. American officials have expressed concern that a large harvest
this spring in Afghanistan will inundate world markets.
Instead of risking contributing to instability in Afghanistan with a
crackdown, American and British authorities have said they will concentrate
on trying to strengthen anti-smuggling activities in countries bordering
Afghanistan.
Turkey's Largest Haul of Drugs Is Said to Be From Afghanistan
ISTANBUL, April 1 -- Turkish police and American drug agents have seized
7.5 tons of unrefined morphine, worth an estimated $29 million, in the
biggest drug haul ever in Turkey, authorities said today.
The morphine, which can be processed to produce heroin, was believed to
have originated in Afghanistan and made its way to Turkey through Iran on
its way to European markets, the authorities said.
The drugs were seized Sunday night in a rural area near Sarkaya, about 40
miles east of Istanbul, and 12 people were arrested, Turkish police said.
The previous record for a heroin seizure in Turkey was about three tons,
discovered aboard a ship five years ago.
Maj. Gen. Adulkadir Yilmaz, commander of the military police who seized the
drugs, said the quantity was nearly twice the amount intercepted in Turkey
in the last five years, according to Anatolia Agency, the state-run news
service.
An American official confirmed that agents from the Drug Enforcement
Administration were involved in the investigation and the seizure of the drugs.
Authorities said the morphine base originated last year in Afghanistan and
that the arrests were the culmination of an investigation within Turkey
that had lasted for several months.
Turkey has been a common route for drugs smuggled out of Afghanistan, but
American officials said today that Turkish law enforcement agencies have
been improving their interdiction efforts.
Afghanistan has supplied as much as three-fourths of the world's opium,
from which the morphine and then heroin are produced, though production
dropped last year after a ban by the Taliban, who then controlled most of
the country. American officials have expressed concern that a large harvest
this spring in Afghanistan will inundate world markets.
Instead of risking contributing to instability in Afghanistan with a
crackdown, American and British authorities have said they will concentrate
on trying to strengthen anti-smuggling activities in countries bordering
Afghanistan.
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