21 tons of bootleg alcohol seized in Adana in Turkey’s south

ADANA

One person was detained and 21 tons of bootleg alcohol were seized on Jan. 17 in an operation carried out by police units in the Seyhan district of the southern province of Adana.

Upon a tipoff, the operation was conducted by the provincial department of anti-smuggling and organized crime units and resulted in the police’s confiscating of the alcohol they seized, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Turkish media outlets have in recent years reported a rise in alcohol poisoning from a sharp uptick in bootleg alcohol production. The government currently levies some of the world’s highest taxes on alcohol and tobacco, which analysts say has encouraged increased smuggling and illegal production.

Security forces seized one ton of bootleg wine waiting to be released to markets prior to New Year’s Eve on Dec. 28 in the Bayramiç district of the western province of Çanakkale.

Law enforcement officials ramped up searches ahead of New Year’s Eve and conducted the operation after a tip-off, Doğan News Agency reported.

Six persons were detained following the raid carried out in a village house in Zeytinli, where the wine had reportedly been produced.

On Dec. 20, anti-smuggling teams detained three people and seized 5,000 liters of bootleg alcohol, as well as distillation devices and barrels, in a raid in Istanbul’s Fatih district.

In December alone, police inspected at least 250 businesses in Istanbul, shuttering 11 of them, as part of ongoing operations against restaurants, bars and clubs that purchase bootleg alcoholic beverages, endangering customers’ health.

In that time anti-smuggling teams seized 12,000 liters of bootleg alcohol, including 130,000 bottles of bootleg rakı, whiskey and vodka, 920 bottles of alcoholic beverages that are not approved by the Turkish Tobacco and Alcohol Market Regulatory Authority (TAPKD), 27,000 emptied bottles, barrels used in alcohol brewery and four unregistered guns.

Officials also subjected 46 people to legal procedures following the raids in Istanbul.