Man held for smuggling 'Daesh recruits' in S Turkey

ADANA, Turkey

Turkish authorities nabbed a Syrian man suspected of trying to smuggle nine Trinidad and Tobago citizens from southern Turkey to the Daesh terrorist organization in Syria Monday, a police source said.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restriction on speaking to media, said police had stopped a car with a license plate from southern Mersin province when it entered south-central Adana province; 10 people, including the driver and nine Trinidad and Tobago citizens were then detained based on suspicion.

After an initial probe, police found the Syrian man, Asem H., was trying to take the foreigners to the war-torn country, where they would have been recruited by Daesh.

The Syrian suspect was remanded in custody after an appearance at a local court, while the nine other foreigners were transferred to Adana Provincial Migration Management for deportation procedures, the source said.

(Reporting by Gokce Cansunar; Writing by Ahmet Sait Akcay)