Ankara, Apr 14 (IANS): At least 149 people have been detained in an anti-narcotics operation in the southern Gaziantep province of Turkey, a Turkish cabinet minister said.
Thirty other suspects are still absconding and being hunted, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Thursday in a press conference in Gaziantep.
Soylu added that the number of direct drug-related deaths in Turkey has decreased from 941 in 2017 to 270 in 2021 thanks to the government's efforts to curb illegal drug use, Xinhua news agency reported.
Located at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, Turkey has been grappling with international drug smuggling for many years. There are currently nearly 1,26,000 drug manufacturers and smugglers imprisoned in the country, the Minister said.