Turkey: Nearly 500 kg of heroin, drugs seized

By Baris Gundogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish security forces seized 482 kilograms (1,062 pounds) of heroin in an operation against "terrorist financing" in the country’s southeastern Hakkari province, the interior minister said on Thursday.

Suleyman Soylu on Twitter said the local gendarmerie teams struck a heavy blow to the illegal drug trade that funds terrorism.

Security teams also seized 65 kilograms (143 pounds) of methamphetamine in the rural area of Hakkari's Yuksekova district.

Turkish authorities have been confiscating narcotics shipments owned or operated by the terrorist PKK since the 1980s, with the country seizing over 40 tons of marijuana in 2019 alone.

Turkey’s ongoing crackdown on drugs has helped it fight narco-terrorism or profits from the illegal drug trade funding terrorist groups such as the PKK.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.