By Xinhua
Ankara : Turkey’s security forces seized 400kg of heroin in an operation carried out in the northwestern provinces of Sakarya, Bursa and Edirne, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday.
Following a tip-off that certain olive wholesalers in Sakarya were smuggling drugs to foreign countries, the security forces launched a large scale operation in Sakarya, Bursa and Edirne and tracked down a company and the wholesalers for 9 months, according to the report.
The security forces who were informed that large quantities of olive would be exported abroad, launched an operation in the Kapikule border gate in Edirne, said the report, adding that they impounded 400 kg of heroin stashed in olive cans on a truck during their searches with x-ray devices and narcotic dogs.
The driver was taken into custody and the security forces are pursuing the suspects, said the report.
Turkey is a key transit route for smuggling drugs from Asia and the Middle East to markets in western Europe.