More than 100 detained in crackdown on bootleg alcohol

ISTANBUL

Units from the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department have detained over 100 people in operations against those who produce and sell bootleg alcohol that has killed nearly 50 people over the past week in several provinces.

Operation Poison-2 was launched on Dec. 20 and security forces raided more than 560 locations in the country’s 81 provinces, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

In the newly conducted operations, a number of suspects for whom detention warrants were issued have been apprehended, the statement added.

The police launched the first Operation Poison last week across the country, seizing tons of counterfeit alcohol.

“In Operation Poison and Operation Poison-2, anti-smuggling and organized crime units searched around 1,000 locations and detained more than 100 suspects,” the ministry said, adding that throughout the year, the police have conducted several such operations.

The police usually intensify crackdown on bootleg alcohol ahead of New Year celebrations, searching liquor stores and restaurants offering alcohol.