Turkish security forces have carried out what Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya described as the “most comprehensive narcotics operation,” detaining more than 600 suspects in an operation centered in the western province of İzmir.
“We have carried out the most extensive narcotics operation in the history of the republic,” Yerlikaya told journalists on Jan. 20 during a press briefing on the crackdown.
The operation primarily targeted street dealers, whom Yerlikaya described as the “strategic backbone of the drug trade.”
While İzmir was the main focus, coordinated raids were conducted across 14 provinces.
Ahead of the operation, police gathered extensive field intelligence on street-level dealers, particularly those selling narcotics to young people, the minister noted.
“Over a period of nearly four months, our teams meticulously identified where these suspects went, whom they contacted and the methods they used to distribute poison,” Yerlikaya said.
Based on the intelligence collected, simultaneous raids were launched in the early hours of Jan. 19 at pre-identified addresses. A total of 641 suspects were detained.
Yerlikaya expressed that the fight against narcotics is not merely an issue of domestic security but part of a broader global security struggle.
The operation came in the wake of an investigation into Turkish links to a recent seizure of 10 tons of cocaine in Spain’s Canary Islands.
It also followed another major bust earlier this month, when Turkish authorities seized 298 kilograms of cocaine at the Mersin International Port in southern Türkiye on Jan. 15.
The container in which the drugs were discovered had been shipped from Brazil to Türkiye and was officially declared as carrying peanuts.
