By Firat Tasdemir
In the waters off southern Türkiye, 51.75 kilograms of cocaine were seized from a Liberian-flagged ship.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday that the cocaine was seized on the dry cargo ship Berge Torre, anchored off Yumurtalik, Adana in the Gulf of Iskenderun.
Yerlikaya stressed that Turkish ports are under close surveillance.
The operation, coordinated by the Security General Directorate Narcotics Crimes Division, involved teams from the Adana Provincial Security Directorate Narcotics Crimes Branch, Coast Guard Eastern Mediterranean Group Command, and Mersin Customs Smuggling and Intelligence Directorate, he said.
Statements were taken from the ship captain, deputy captains, and crew members, he said, adding: "In the anchor chain gap of the ship, tied to the chain, 51.75 kilograms of cocaine were seized in 45 packages made of durable plastic."
*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul