This morning, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya made a statement on social media regarding the drug operations conducted.
Yerlikaya wrote that during the operations carried out in Istanbul and the Inegol district of Bursa, 5 individuals were apprehended with a significant amount of drugs. In addition, operations in Diyarbakir and Gaziantep led to the capture of 8 individuals with a large quantity of narcotics.
Yerlikaya emphasized that the operations will continue and provided the following details:
"As part of the efforts conducted by the Istanbul Provincial Police Department's Narcotics Division, with the support of the Bursa Provincial Narcotics Division, operations were conducted in Sultanbeyli and Pendik districts of İstanbul, as well as İnegol. These operations resulted in the seizure of 1,237 kilograms of methamphetamine and the apprehension of 5 suspects."
Furthermore, he reported that in the operations carried out by the Diyarbakir Provincial Gendarmerie and the Gaziantep Provincial Gendarmerie, 2,650 kilograms of marijuana, 3,450,000 cannabis plants, 1,200,000 skunk plants, and 121 kilograms of skunk were seized, and 8 individuals were taken into custody.
According to the Ministry of Interior, the number of inmates imprisoned for drug offenses has risen from 36,000 to 128,000 over the past seven years. According to data from the Ministry of Justice, the total number of inmates is 341,497. This means that roughly one-third of the inmates are serving sentences for drug-related crimes. (AS/VK)
