French DJ arrested in Istanbul over drug smuggling

ISTANBUL

A French DJ was arrested in Istanbul on April 4 for smuggling drugs and was sent to jail by a Turkish court.

Yannick Michel, who was headed to Istanbul from Amsterdam, was detained at Atatürk International Airport after a police search.

Narcotic detection dogs detected suspicious items in his luggage, leading police to seize drugs worth approximately 2 million Turkish Liras ($496,420.00).

The drugs included 3,917 ecstasy pills, 12,500 LSD synthetic drug pills and 2,102 grams of cannabis, which were filled in nylon bags and hidden at the bottom of his luggage.

Michel is known for his DJ performances in touristic venues in Turkey’s Dalaman and Istanbul.

Police seize over 725 kilograms of drugs across Turkey

A total of 727 kilograms of drugs were seized during anti-narcotics operations across Turkey on April 4, according to a security source.

The drugs were seized in the Istanbul, Mardin, Tekirdağ, Bingöl and Edirne provinces, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The police department of the southeastern province of Mardin said the drugs were found when a light commercial vehicle was spotted during a drone-backed operation. The vehicle was stopped in the town of Midyat.

In Istanbul, six kilograms of marijuana and 120 Indian cannabis roots were seized, the source said.

In another operation, 10 kilograms of heroin and nine kilograms of cocaine were seized in the western province of Tekirdağ, the source added.

In the Elbistan district of the eastern Kahramanmaraş province and the western Edirne province, over 100,000 pills with nearly five kilograms of skunk cannabis were seized.

Moreover, 44 suspects involved in drug trafficking were detained in the southern and central Turkish provinces of Adana and Eskişehir.