Thousands of smuggled cigarettes seized in northern Turkey

SAMSUN – Anadolu Agency

CİHAN photo

Turkish police seized 687,000 packets of cigarettes smuggled into the country in an operation in the Black Sea province of Samsun on Aug. 4. 

The anti-smuggling police department in Samsun stopped a truck with Georgia license plate on the highway between Samsun and Ankara. The truck, driven by 49-year-old M.K., was laden with thousands of cigarette packets smuggled into the country illegally. Around 60 police officers removed the packets from the truck into a sports hall in around eight hours. 

Meanwhile, the police seized 477,160 packets of smuggled cigarettes in eastern province of Bitlis on July 27.  A truck driven by E.B. was stopped by the anti-smuggling teams, with the police seizing 477,160 packets of cigarettes in the truck.