Turkey arrests 43 in anti-narcotics operations

At least 43 suspects have been arrested in anti-narcotics operations across Turkey, according to security officials on Friday.

Turkish police arrested 22 suspects in the country’s largest city Istanbul, said one of the officials, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media.

Backed by riot police and helicopters, security forces also seized drugs from the houses of the suspects.

In Turkey’s central Anatolian province of Kutahya, Turkish police arrested two suspects over drug dealing. One suspect was released on bail while another suspect remanded in custody by a Turkish court.

In the northwestern province of Canakkale, 11 suspects have been arrested over drug trafficking, another police official said.

In Eskisehir province, the police arrested five suspects and seized 11 packages of ready-to-sell-synthetic drugs.

In Turkey’s eastern province of Erzurum, police arrested three suspects. Turkish security forces also recovered over 190 kilograms (418 pounds) of marijuana from the vans of the suspects.