Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that the "Narko Kapan Gaziantep Operation" was carried out by the Gaziantep Police Department under the coordination of the Gaziantep Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, following 6 months of technical and physical surveillance.
Gürlek stated that 548 suspects were identified within the scope of the operation. He noted that 75 of the suspects were already in penal institutions. This morning, 382 people were detained in the operation launched simultaneously in 14 provinces centered on Gaziantep. Efforts are ongoing to apprehend 91 suspects, 4 of whom are fugitives abroad.
Gürlek said, "Drug dealers who threaten the future of our children should know that the state will always be breathing down their necks. The streets of Gaziantep are being cleansed of drug dealers."
3,100 police officers took part
Gaziantep Governor Kemal Çeber, speaking in the garden of the Provincial Police Department, said that simultaneous raids were carried out at 472 addresses. He stated that 3,100 police officers, 620 teams, 1 helicopter, 10 drones, and 11 detector dogs took part in the operation.
Çeber emphasized that the detained suspects were linked to many serious crimes, including drug trafficking, as well as robbery, armed threat, intentional injury, theft, property damage, and violation of domicile. "This picture clearly shows us that drug crime is often not a crime committed alone; structures that feed on drug trafficking bring violence, disorder, street crimes, and social unrest," he said.