Turkey ups smuggled goods seizure by 32 pct

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Turkish authorities seized 861.1 million Turkish Liras worth of smuggled goods and drugs in the first 10 months of the year. AA photo

Turkish customs teams seized 861.1 million Turkish Liras worth of smuggled goods and drugs in the first 10 months of the year, the Customs and Trade Minister has said, revealing the amount was 32 percent higher than during the same period last year.

The value of the smuggled goods the country managed to capture throughout last year was 743.7 million. 

Speaking at the ongoing 2014 budget discussions at the Parliament’s Plan Budget Commission, Minister Hayati Yazıcı said 232 million liras worth of cars and 129 million liras worth of fuel had been captured, while the amount of drugs seized equated to 127 million liras in value.

Turkey had undertaken 20 percent of the drug smuggling seizure around the globe, Yazıcı said.

“Some 94 percent of 14 tons of heroine captured in southern Europe last year has been carried out by Turkey,” he stressed. “Only the amount captured by Customs Administration was 1,400 kilograms.”

The minister said the amount of seized heroine had jumped by 18 percent to 1,651 kilograms and the amount of ecstasy pills had multiplied by 176 percent to above 651,000 pills.