Turkey intensifies raids on fake life vests

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

AA photo

Teams from Turkey’s Labor and Social Security Ministry destroyed some 2,500 substandard life vests in simultaneous operations carried out at 121 firms which sold personal protective equipment in eight provinces on Jan. 22.

The raids were conducted at several firms in the provinces of Istanbul, İzmir, Muğla, Antalya, Aydın, Kocaeli, Mersin and Çanakkale, as the ministry decided to beef up its inspections on personal protective equipment including life vests, wet suits, respiratory masks and helmets.

The decision came as the number of drowned migrants off Turkish coasts continued to rise.

The ministry conducted the operations with the support of the police, tax office officials, municipalities and gendarmerie forces. In addition to the destruction of substandard products, a number of products were seized for testing and the sale of these products has been halted. 

During the inspections a number of firms received notification they would be fined if the production and sale of substandard products continued. The cost of the substandard or “fake” life vests, which are often made of purse fabric and water-permeable materials, varies between 25 to 30 Turkish Liras, while a standard life vest generally costs around 70 to 250 liras.