Unthinkable methods did not disassemble: Striking poison dealers at airports

Customs enforcement teams affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce, working at Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, one of Türkiye's most important international air transportation hubs, continue to carry out passenger, baggage and cargo checks uninterruptedly in order to prevent drug and commercial goods smuggling.

While different types of drugs were seized in the operations carried out since the beginning of the year, hundreds of people connected to the events were caught and arrested following judicial processes.

The teams use risk analysis, intelligence and technological scanning methods together to reveal smuggling attempts, and focus especially on passengers and cargo coming from routes deemed risky in the international drug trade. In the work carried out against the new concealment methods developed by drug traffickers, advanced detection devices as well as narcotic detection dogs are used.

Istanbul Airport Customs Enforcement Anti-Smuggling and Intelligence Manager Nurhak Demirtaş, in his statement representing the airports in Istanbul, said that Istanbul Airport is one of the few airports in Turkey, Europe and the world, and that heavy passenger and cargo traffic requires great responsibility in the fight against smuggling.

Stating that they carry out effective, efficient and determined work in the fight against smuggling, Demirtaş said, "We control a lot of passengers, cargo and goods here. Smugglers can be very creative in their attempts to smuggle both drugs and commercial goods. As they develop new methods, we do our best to reveal their methods, working until the end. We have seized approximately 8 tons and 875 kilos of drugs and synthetic drugs in 253 different incidents since the beginning of the year." he said.

Referring to the results of the operations against drug smuggling, Demirtaş stated that they led to the arrest of hundreds of people following the captures.

Explaining that drug traffickers use different methods to bypass security controls, Demirtaş said that drugs can be hidden in various parts of suitcases, commercial items and different products.

Source: TRT Haber Açık RSS (Gündem) (Open Press / Translated Full Text)