Record amount of heroin seized at Türkiye’s southeastern border

ANKARA

Security authorities seized 850 kilograms of heroin at the Habur Customs Gate on the southeastern border of Türkiye with Iraq, marking the highest quantity of heroin ever seized in a single operation at border crossings, the Trade Ministry has announced.

According to a written statement by the ministry on March 28, border security teams classified a truck as "risky" during inspections at the Habur gate.

The teams discovered 850 kilograms of heroin concealed within the loaded cargo during the search of the truck, with the seized narcotic substance valued at approximately 1.3 billion Turkish Liras ($40.1 million), the statement said.

While an investigation into the incident has been initiated, the ministry also expressed its determination to continue “cracking down on poison traffickers" through successful operations at borders.

In another statement on the same day, the ministry disclosed that more than 140 million liras worth of drugs and smuggled goods were seized in Istanbul, the western province of İzmir, the eastern province of Van and the northern city of Artvin in the past two weeks.

As a result of the risk analysis conducted by customs enforcement teams, approximately 85 kilograms of heroin were seized at Istanbul’s Pendik Port, while Istanbul Airport saw the confiscation of approximately 36 kilograms of narcotics, including cannabis and cocaine.

The operations carried out in the past two weeks thwarted smuggling attempts valued at around 142 million liras.