Interior Minister Yerlikaya announces arrests in major anti-drug operation

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya reported that 227 people were apprehended in the “Narco-Steel-37” operations targeting drug trafficking and use in 42 provinces.

In a statement on his social media account, Minister Yerlikaya noted that operations were conducted in 42 provinces, including Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, and Antalya, targeting drug trafficking and usage.

Yerlikaya provided details that 567 teams, 1,418 personnel, 12 aircraft, and 37 narcotic detector dogs participated in the operations coordinated by the General Directorate of Security’s Anti-Narcotics Department. As a result, 227 drug dealers and street vendors were arrested, and 479 kilograms of drugs, along with 160,967 drug pills, were seized.

“We are determined to rid our country of drugs and drug traffickers,” Yerlikaya stated, congratulating the security forces involved in the operations.