According to reports, gendarmerie teams moved into action in the early hours of Thursday morning after obtaining permission from the Ankara State Prosecutor's Office to act on intelligence collected over a long period of time indicating that some gas stations were selling illegal fuel. Operation “Bypass” was taking place in 30 provinces simultaneously and was set to last throughout the day, with gendarmerie officials saying yesterday afternoon that they had already arrested 200 people in connection with the procurement and sale of illegal fuel.
The gendarmerie operation included raids in Ankara, İzmir, Samsun, Kırıkkale, Van, Muğla, Adana, Mersin, Manisa and Balıkesir and other surrounding provinces and resulted in the arrest of gas station owners, managers and employees.
Gendarmes say that along with charges of smuggling fuel into the country to avoid taxes and selling it, some of those taken into custody will be charged over the illegal procurement of some materials such as Stoddard solvent and toluene.
Gendarmes say the suspects made a fortune by selling products that do not meet TSE standards to consumers and avoiding private consumption tax (ÖTV). The investigation that led to the operation began after gendarmes received a tip-off some time ago. The gendarmes also found in their raids evidence that the suspects used computer programs along with their cash registers to serve their tax evasion purposes, installing a false memory card in registers so that they could issue fake receipts. An intricate system was allegedly in place whereby attendants at the gas stations used a remote device that communicated with the register and, depending on the customer at the pump, issued either a real or a fake receipt.
