ISTANBUL: The authorities in Turkey have seized tens of thousands of packets of contraband cigarettes in a series of raids across the country from Jan. 20 to Jan. 22.
In the most recent operation on Jan. 22, Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department units seized 7,500 packages of smuggled cigarettes during a highway stop in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri, detaining seven people.
Separately, on Jan. 22 gendarmerie units captured 8,900 packages of cigarettes after stopping and searching vehicles at check points in the towns of Muradiye and Saray in the eastern province of Van. Two people were detained in connection with the smuggled cigarettes.
Earlier on Jan. 20, units from the Gendarmerie’s Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department confiscated 9,090 packages of cigarettes in the Nizip district of the southeastern province of Gaziantep when they stopped a suspicious truck on the Gaziantep-Şanlıurfa highway. The driver of the vehicle was detained.
Also on Jan. 20 units from the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department in the Central Anatolian province of Niğde seized 20,800 packages of unlabeled cigarette cartridges, 4,100 packages of smuggled cigarettes, and 530 electronic cigarettes. Two people were arrested in the operation.
