UPDATES WITH ADDITIONAL ARRESTMENT
By Faruk Zorlu
Turkish security forces have arrested 56 individuals who were wanted with Interpol red notice by 18 countries, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Wednesday.
The wanted persons were held after simultaneous operations by provincial police departments in 11 cities, with the exercise dubbed Operation Cage-28, Yerlikaya said on X.
"The detainees were found to have search records for crimes including membership in a criminal organization, drug trafficking, money laundering, assault, counterfeiting, robbery, fraud, human trafficking, murder, prostitution, theft, smuggling, bribery, corruption, and forgery," he added.
Also, as part of Operation Cage-28, an Iranian woman, Masoomeh Taheri, 51, was detained in the western province of Izmir on charges of being part of an international criminal network.
The detained woman is alleged to be a member of an international network that scams mostly Iranian and Afghan nationals by promising residence permits in European countries.