By Anil Bagrik
TURKEY, Mersin (AA) – Nearly 13 tons of heroin were seized in Turkey last year, an amount greater than that confiscated across Europe, a Turkish Interior Ministry official said Thursday.
“The amount of heroin seized in 2016 is 12,700 kilograms. This amount is 1.5 times more than that seized in the whole of Europe,” the ministry’s deputy undersecretary, Cetin Oktay Kaldirim, said.
Attending a “Fight Against Drugs” gathering in southern Mersin province, he described illegal drugs as among the most serious problems of the century.
“As for ecstasy, we seized an amount [equaling] 60 percent of that of Europe. It means that our country is both a destination country and transit country,” Kaldirim added.
Stressing the importance of cooperation among international institutions and organizations combatting illegal drugs, he indicted the need for support from non-governmental organizations as well.
He underlined that during the last year, there had been a nearly six-fold increase in the number of drug suspects captured in Turkey.
