ANKARA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police detained 59 suspects for manufacturing and trafficking drugs in operations across the country, the country's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Tuesday.
The security forces seized more than 1.2 tonnes of narcotics, and 13.6 million roots of hemp, more than 2 million narcotic pills in raids across 16 provinces, Yerlikaya wrote on social media platform X, without specifying the time frame of the operations.
The police teams carried out the raids with the participation of a 642 personnel, with the support of aerial vehicles and narcotic detector dogs, he said.
"We are determined to rid our country of poison dealers and street vendors," he added.
Türkiye, often used by illegal drug dealers as a transit hub, has ramped up its crackdown on drug smuggling since last year.
In mid-July, Turkish police detained 396 suspects for manufacturing and trafficking drugs in operations across the country, seizing more than 1.7 tonnes of narcotics and 1.18 million narcotic pills in raids carried out across 57 provinces. ■
