UPDATE - Nearly 90 kg of heroin seized in eastern Turkey

UPDATES WITH MORE DRUGS HELD ACROSS TURKEY, CHANGES DECK, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Necat Hazar

VAN, Turkey (AA) - Police in Turkey seized 87.4 kilograms (192.6 pounds) of heroin in the country’s east, authorities said on Monday.

In a statement, the top police authority in the Van province said 45.2 kilograms (99.6 pounds) of heroin were recovered from a minibus stopped on Van-Hakkari highway in the Gurpinar district

A sniffer dog helped in the search, while a driver, identified only by initials M.C., was arrested and a local court later remanded the suspect into custody.

Meanwhile, police also seized 42.2 kilograms (93 pounds) of heroin among other illicit drugs during an anti-drug operation in the eastern province of Agri, according to the local governorate.

In a joint operation by Agri and Van police teams, the illicit drug were seized from a car, a statement said.

Police arrested the driver in the raid, assisted by a sniffer dog.

Also the local gendarmerie forces in the Aegean province of Izmir seized 73.5 kg (160 lbs) hashish and some 390 cannabis roots in raids.

Five suspects were also rounded up during the operations.

Moreover, the local gendarmerie forces launched an operation in the eastern Malatya province and seized 1,460 cannabis roots in the Yesilyurt district.

Three suspects were also held during the operations.

*Abdullah Soylemez in Agri, Halil Sahin in Izmir and Orhan Yoldas in Malatya contributed to this story.