ISTANBUL, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Thursday detained 189 suspects in a major operation targeting street-level drug dealers, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on social media platform X.
The operation, spanning across eight provinces, including Istanbul, tracked the suspects through technical and physical surveillance, and documented all their related criminal activities as evidence, Yerlikaya said.
Of the detainees, 171 were remanded in custody, and the rest were placed under judicial control, Yerlikaya said.
Türkiye, located at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, has long struggled with international drug trafficking. Turkish security forces regularly conduct operations to combat drug abuse and smuggling. ■
