Approximately 12 tons of drugs were seized in Turkey last year, in addition to a veritable explosion in bootleg alcohol and tobacco smuggling, the Birgün daily reported, citing data from the Trade Ministry.
The ministry’s 2023 activity report revealed that a total of 11,976 kilograms of drugs were seized in the country in 2023, in addition to 7,386 liters of bootleg alcohol.
Among the tobacco products seized in 2023 were 1.4 million packs of cigarettes, 515.5 tons of tobacco, 16,600 cigars, 389.1 million cigarette tubes, 610,200 rolling papers, 46.3 million cigarette filters, 1.1 million electronic cigarette devices, 6.4 million electronic cigarette tobacco and 463,800 milliliters of electronic cigarette liquid.
In 2021 there were 986 incidents of seizure related to tobacco smuggling and illicit cigarettes in Turkey, while the number of incidents in 2022 and 2023 amounted to 1,755 and 2,095, respectively.
As part of the efforts to combat drug trafficking, teams affiliated with the Trade Ministry made a total of 727 seizures in 2023.
According to the report, 1,197 kilograms of “captagon” were seized at the Port of İskenderun in southern Turkey; 1.1 tons of cocaine soaked into asphalt with 424 kilograms of “captagon” were seized at Ambarlı Port in İstanbul; 1 ton of methamphetamine soaked into cotton at the Sarp border gate in northeastern Turkey; 600 kilograms of cannabis at the İpsala border gate in northwestern Turkey; 427 kilograms of methamphetamine and 79.4 kilograms of opium gum at Istanbul Airport; 786 kilograms of liquid methamphetamine at the Habur border gate in eastern Turkey; and 113 kilograms of cocaine at the Port of Tekirdağ in northern Turkey.
Fenethylline, commonly known by the trademark name of “captagon,” is a synthetic amphetamine-type stimulant.
Data from a 2023 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report underscored Turkey’s rising prominence as a transit country for illicit drugs, particularly cocaine. The report revealed a sevenfold surge in drug seizures in Turkey since 2014, paralleling a 35 percent global increase in coca bush cultivation between 2021 and 2022. Drug seizures in Turkey reached a record high of 2.8 tons in 2021.