December 04, 2015•Update: December 04, 2015
ISTANBUL
Istanbul police have seized almost $3.5-million worth of cannabis in an operation against a suspected international drug smuggling net Friday.
Anti-narcotics units raided four addresses simultaneously in the city’s Avcilar, Bakirkoy and Bayrampasa districts on the European side, making seven arrests.
Intelligence suggested that a smuggling network was running illegal drugs through Kosovo and Albania, according to police sources.
More than 350 kilograms of extra-strong cannabis dubbed 'skunk' were seized.
The seized drugs have a value of 10,000,000 Turkish liras ($3,442,815), said police.
Police added that cash amounts totaling €11,000 ($11,969) and 16,600 TL ($5,715), as well as two cars allegedly bought with drug money, were also seized.
Five of the seven suspects were remanded in custody while the remaining two were released, said police.
Officers said that skunk -- which can be sold for 30,000-50,000 TL ($10,330-17,217) per kilogram -- was a mixture of cannabis and chemicals.
In November this year, Istanbul police seized more than 50 kilograms of another dangerous street drug dubbed 'bonsai' as well as over 2,000 grams of hashish and an amount of cocaine, together with equipment used to prepare illegal drugs.
In June last year, the Turkish parliament passed legislation introducing harsher punishments for drug dealers, especially if their victims are minors.
