ISTANBUL, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities arrested 71 suspects in operations targeting organized crime groups across 11 provinces, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
Authorities coordinated raids against 15 crime groups, working with prosecutors and Gendarmerie General Command's anti-smuggling, organized crime and cybercrime units, the ministry said in a statement.
Investigators said the suspects were involved in fraud, drug trafficking, illegal betting, document forgery, tobacco smuggling and loan sharking.
The Financial Crimes Investigation Board identified account transactions totaling approximately 2.748 billion Turkish lira (70 million U.S. dollars) linked to the suspects. ■
