Over 133 kg of heroin seized in eastern Turkey

By Necat Hazar and Mehmet Akif Parlak

VAN/GAZIANTEP, Turkey

Turkish police on Wednesday seized over 133 kilograms (around 293 pounds) of heroin in the east of the country, police said.

Police stopped a trailer truck at a highway in the Edremit district of Van province over suspicion, according to a statement by the Van Police Headquarters.

A sniffer dog found 259 packs of drugs in the trailer amounting to some 133 kilograms (around 293 pounds).

The driver of the vehicle, identified by the initials S.P., was remanded by judicial authorities.

Separately, police seized a total of 26,000 packages of smuggled cigarettes during an operation in Turkey’s southeastern border province of Gaziantep.

The security forces stopped a truck in the highway near Islahiye district after receiving a tip-off.

The contraband cigarettes were found hidden in the trailer of the truck, according to security sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The truck driver was taken into custody over smuggling.