Police raid drug gang who observed police operation with ‘drones’ in Istanbul

Çetin AYDIN- ISTANBUL

AA Photo

Istanbul police on Feb. 8 seized at least 40 kilograms of drugs during a raid on a narcotics gang that observed the operation using drones.

Anti-drug police teams raided the suspected address in Istanbul’s Eyüp district while the gang was trying to dispatch the drugs.

Police seized the drugs at the site and later revealed that the gang had flown a drone in advance of the raid in order to monitor whether police were coming to the site.

Three suspects were detained in the raid, while 11 kilograms of cocaine and 28 kilograms of skunk and cannabis were seized by police.

Police also seized the drone, 11 mobile phones, 10 sim cards, three precision scales and two fake plaques. 

During their testimonies, the suspects said they had placed a police hat on the windscreen of the vehicle they used while drug trafficking in order to protect them from suspicion.  

The gang had reportedly imported the narcotics by using a ballcock filled with drugs via a ship from South America that arrived in the Marmara Sea.

Two of the suspects were arrested and one was released after giving their testimonies.  

In an operation on Dec. 15, police raided an address used as a drug factory also in the Eyüp district, seizing drugs worth 12 million Turkish Liras.

Drug enforcement police in Istanbul launched surveillance of the house before seizing around 78 kilograms of ecstasy, 5 kilograms of cocaine, 39 kilograms of marijuana, three precision scales, two Kalashnikovs and a pistol. 

Four suspects were detained in the Dec. 15 raid, including the address’ owner, after which they were taken to a police station to give their testimonies. A police inquiry revealed that the seized drugs had a street value of around 12 million Turkish Liras.