500 police officers take part in drug trafficking operation in Adana

The Adana Police Department Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau (KOM) launched a full-scale drug trafficking operation in the 19 Mayıs neighborhood of Adana's Yüregir district, following a three-month pursuit of suspects allegedly selling drugs.

Police raided 31 properties and arrested 17 people. The drugs and weapons seized in the operation were taken to the Adana Police Department. Relatives of the suspects protested the raids to police and journalists.

Arrestees were taken to the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) for medical check-ups and later to the police department for questioning.

Simultaneous drug trafficking operations were launched in İnegöl, a district of the western province of Bursa, on Wednesday. Twenty people, including women and children, were arrested in the operations in the Sinanbey and Yenice neighborhoods of İnegöl.

Police used helicopters in the operations in both Adana and Bursa.

Meanwhile, four kilograms of heroin were seized in Şanlıurfa's Birecik district on the same day. Police officers ordered a bus en route to Ankara to pull over as part of traffic control measures, following which four kilograms of heroin were found hidden in luggage. Two drug smugglers the luggage reportedly belonged to were arrested by the police. An investigation has been launched into the incident.