ANKARA, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Authorities have destroyed 217,608 cannabis and skunk plants in southeastern Türkiye, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.
The plants, seized by gendarmerie forces in 99 illegal cannabis cultivation areas in Diyarbakir province, could have yielded about 5 tons of cannabis powder, the ministry said in an X post.
The forces conducted an operation in the Lice and Kulp districts as part of a government action plan targeting illegal cannabis cultivation, it said.
A total of 64 operational teams and 570 personnel from the local gendarmerie forces took part in the operation, coordinated with the Narcotics Crimes Department of the Gendarmerie General Command and the Lice and Kulp Chief Public Prosecutors' Offices. Remote sensing systems were also used to identify cultivation sites.
Efforts against street-level drug dealers, drug manufacturers and illegal drug cultivation activities would continue, the ministry said. ■
