Turkey seizes 2.3 tons of meat smuggled from Greece

EDİRNE – Doğan News Agency

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Turkish police seized 2.3 tons of red meat illegally brought to the country from Greece in a lorry stopped at the northwestern province of Edirne. 

Turkish gendarmerie forces stopped two trucks in Edirne on Feb. 8, a Turkish city bordering Greece.
 Gendarmerie forces found 2,370 kilograms of meat on the back of two trucks.

One truck, driven by someone identified as N.Y., was stopped at the town of Yenikarpuzlu in Edirne’s İpsala district by soldiers who seized 1,300 kilograms of meat from the truck. The other truck, driven by M.H.O., was carrying 1,070 kilograms meat that was also seized. N.Y. and M.H.O. were also detained by gendarmerie forces.

The meat was worth 83,000 Turkish Liras in total. An investigation has been launched into the incident. 

According to a 2013 report from the Agricultural Association of Turkey, some 30 percent of the meat consumed in Turkey is illegally smuggled.  A shortage of domestically produced meat has led to imports, and some have sought to avoid high duties through smuggling.