Large amount of heroin seized in Turkey

Turkish security forces seized large amount of heroin in southern and eastern Turkey on Tuesday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Acting on a tip-off, anti-narcotics teams waged an operation to a warehouse of fruits and vegetables in Akdeniz town of Mersin province in southern Turkey and found 313.5 kg of heroin hidden inside cases.

The illicit drug was brought to Mersin from Turkey's eastern provinces and traffickers were planning to send it to Europe, officials were quoted as saying.

A total of six suspects were detained in the operation, said the report.

Meanwhile, Turkish gendarmerie teams impounded 87 kg of heroin and 11 kg of hashish in three separate operations in eastern province of Van on Tuesday, Anatolia reported.

Four suspects were detained in connection with the illicit drug trafficking, said the report.

Turkey is a key transit route for smuggling drugs from Asia and the Middle East to markets in western Europe.

Source: Xinhua