Turkish police bust terror-linked drug networks

ANKARA

Turkish police confirmed Thursday that the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) has made money by selling illegal drugs.

Police officials told Anadolu Agency that narcotic teams busted drug networks belonging to the terrorist organizations PKK and FETO in 2016.

Five anti-drug operations -- one of them abroad -- were carried out by narcotics officers against FETO in 2016.

This year 24 FETO suspects were detained during drug operations in several Turkish provinces including Gaziantep, Kayseri, Malatya and Erzurum plus Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

In the various operations, police seized 800,000 captagon pills, 252 kilograms of cocaine and 226 cannabis sativa roots.

The 800,000 pills were seized by Turkish and U.A.E. police during a joint operation in Dubai. Three suspects, including the founder of FETO's drug network -- identified only as Ibrahim I. -- were held.

The pills' value was 25 million Turkish liras ($7.7 million).

As part of the same investigation in Turkey, another eight suspects already in custody were remanded for trial by Turkish judicial authorities.

Many PKK/KCK and FETO/PDY (Parallel State Structure) documents and five pistols were seized in the police searches of the suspects' home and workplaces.

Cannabis spotted in FETO dormitories

Turkish narcotics police launched an operation against a girls' dormitory in the eastern Turkish province of Erzurum.

Police were informed of drug production in the dormitory in the province's Pasinler district.

During the operation, 226 cannabis sativa roots -- planted in the garden of dormitory -- were seized.

Separately, 252 kilograms cocaine was found by police in a container of a woodwork company on July 27 at a Turkish harbor in the country's southern province of Hatay's Iskenderun district.

The Turkish woodwork firm's owners were remanded on charges of being members of FETO/PDY and financing the terrorist organization.

The market value of the drugs in the container was $12.6 million.

Led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, FETO is accused of orchestrating Turkey’s July 15 coup plot as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

July 15's defeated coup left 246 people martyred and around 2,200 injured.

*Reporting by Sertac Bulur; Writing by Can Erozden