UPDATE - Turkey: Police seize bootleg alcohol, nab 21 suspects

UPDATES DETAILS, DEATH TOLL; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE

By Burak Milli, Kazım Bulut, Abdullah Yildiz, Cinar Turkmen, Ekber Turkoglu, Ahmet Ozler and Cebrail Caymaz

HATAY/BURSA/KIRSEHIR/KIRKLARELI/TOKAT/KARABUK, Turkey (AA) – Seeking to stem deaths from alcohol poisoning, Turkish security forces seized over 4,800 liters of bootleg alcohol in operations across the country on Tuesday.

Gendarmerie teams arrested six suspects and confiscated 2,580 liters of bootleg alcohol in the Niksar district of the northern Tokat province.

In two separate operations in the southern Hatay province, police seized nearly 1,900 liters of bootleg alcohol. Three suspects were detained.

Some 160 liters of alcohol and 200 liters of ingredients used for its production were also seized in the northwestern Bursa province. Police teams detained one suspect in the operation.

At least one more suspect was apprehended and 26 liters of ethyl alcohol were seized in the Black Sea Karabuk province.

In the southeastern Kilis province, security forces seized some 192 liters of bootleg alcohol last week, according to security sources.

Police teams in the northwestern Kirklareli and central Kirsehir provinces arrested a total of 10 people over their alleged involvement in the production of methyl alcohol.

Turkey has stepped up a crackdown on bootleg liquor following dozens of deaths due to alcohol poisoning in 10 provinces; Istanbul, Izmir, Mersin, Aydin, Mugla, Kirikkale, Trabzon, Tekirdag, Zonguldak, and Kirklareli.

The death toll since Oct. 9 has reached 65, with two more fatalities reported in Zonguldak and Aydin provinces, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency.

Illegally produced liquor with substandard raw material and chemicals causes permanent blindness, metabolic disturbances, and even death.