Police seize one ton of bootleg wine in Çanakkale in Turkey’s west ahead of New Year
ÇANAKKALE
Security forces seized one ton of bootleg wine waiting to be released to markets prior to New Year’s Eve on Dec. 28 in the Bayramiç district of the western province of Çanakkale.
Law enforcement officials who ramped up searches ahead of New Year’s Eve conducted the operation after a tip-off, Doğan News Agency reported.
Six persons were detained following the raid carried out in a village house in Zeytinli, where the wine had reportedly been produced.
On Dec. 20, anti-smuggling teams detained three persons and seized 5,000 liters of bootleg alcohol, as well as distillation devices and barrels, in a raid in Istanbul’s Fatih district ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Turkish media outlets have in recent years reported a rise in alcohol poisoning from a rise in bootleg alcohol production. The government currently levies some of the world’s highest taxes on alcohol and tobacco, which analysts say has encouraged increased smuggling and illegal production.
Over the past month, the police have inspected at least 250 businesses in Istanbul, shuttering 11 of them, as part of ongoing operations against restaurants, bars and clubs that purchase bootleg alcoholic beverages, endangering customers’ health.
In that time anti-smuggling teams have seized 12,000 liters of bootleg alcohol, including 130,000 bottles of bootleg rakı, whiskey and vodka, 920 bottles of alcoholic beverages that are not approved by the Turkish Tobacco and Alcohol Market Regulatory Authority (TAPKD), 27,000 emptied bottles, barrels used in alcohol brewery and four unregistered guns.
The officials also subjected 46 persons to legal procedures following the Istanbul aids.
