Crackdown on bootleg alcohol continues

ISTANBUL

Anti-smuggling and organized crime units from the police force and the General Command of Gendarmerie have conducted yet another nationwide operation against bootleg alcohol after nearly 80 people have died in more than two dozen of provinces due to consumption of illegal alcohol.

“Some 21,000 personnel in over 6,000 teams took part in ‘Operation Alcohol’ in 81 provinces,” the ministry said in a
statement.

Units searched more than 23,000 locations which are suspected of producing and selling bootleg alcohol, including liquor stores and venues serving alcohol, the ministry added.

The purpose of the operation is to protect public health and reduce people’s access to illegal alcohol, according to the statement.

In the past days, security forces conducted two, nationwide operations, dubbed Poison and Poison-2, detaining dozens of people in crackdowns on suspects who produce and sell bootleg alcohol