ANKARA: In an important operation against smuggling on Thursday, Turkish customs units confiscated 3.3 million packs of cigarettes on their way into Turkey through a ship.
The cigarettes confiscated in the operation are believed to have a market value of 28.5 million Turkish liras ($9.85 million), which would bring some TL 23 million in tax revenues if sold legally.
Turkish daily Hürriyet reported that acting upon a tipoff, customs units were following the ship which departed from Magosa port in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus with a declared route to Ukraine’s Skadovsk port.
The ship, which passed through Turkish Straits on to the Black Sea, was put under surveillance. After cruising off the Ukrainian coast for a while, the ship headed back to Istanbul.
The ship’s operators and crew declared they have unloaded the ship’s freight in Ukraine and presented a document prepared along that line.
However, the coast guard and customs enforcement units boarded the ship and found on board the cigarette packs, which weigh some 100 tons.
