Turkey launches anti drug operation in southeastern province

Turkish police on Friday launched a large-scale operation against drug trafficking in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, local media Today's Zaman reported. Police seized 87 kg of marijuana, 26 kg of cannabis sativa and 10,341 pills of various drugs in the operation, said the report, adding that as many as 51 people were detained after police units raided 79 houses and 22 business premises. Earlier this month, local police seized 22 tons of marijuana in Diyarbakir, the largest amount of drugs obtained in a single operation in Turkey's history. According to Cahit Kirac, governor of the Diyarbakir province, as many as 47,893,000 cannabis sativa plants were destroyed and 516 suspects were detained in the 198 operations launched by the police since May. The governor promised that security forces would continue to crack down on drug cultivation and trade in Diyarbakir. Turkey has long been a key transit point on the drug smuggling route from Asia and the Middle East to Europe. Also, drug cultivation is commonplace in some eastern provinces of Turkey.