Pubdate: Tue, 02 Apr 2002
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Section: International
Author: Douglas Frantz
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

SMUGGLING

Turkey's Largest Haul of Drugs Is Said to Be From Afghanistan

ISTANBUL, April 1 -- Turkish police and American drug agents have seized 
7.5 tons of unrefined morphine, worth an estimated $29 million, in the 
biggest drug haul ever in Turkey, authorities said today.

The morphine, which can be processed to produce heroin, was believed to 
have originated in Afghanistan and made its way to Turkey through Iran on 
its way to European markets, the authorities said.

The drugs were seized Sunday night in a rural area near Sarkaya, about 40 
miles east of Istanbul, and 12 people were arrested, Turkish police said. 
The previous record for a heroin seizure in Turkey was about three tons, 
discovered aboard a ship five years ago.

Maj. Gen. Adulkadir Yilmaz, commander of the military police who seized the 
drugs, said the quantity was nearly twice the amount intercepted in Turkey 
in the last five years, according to Anatolia Agency, the state-run news 
service.

An American official confirmed that agents from the Drug Enforcement 
Administration were involved in the investigation and the seizure of the drugs.

Authorities said the morphine base originated last year in Afghanistan and 
that the arrests were the culmination of an investigation within Turkey 
that had lasted for several months.

Turkey has been a common route for drugs smuggled out of Afghanistan, but 
American officials said today that Turkish law enforcement agencies have 
been improving their interdiction efforts.

Afghanistan has supplied as much as three-fourths of the world's opium, 
from which the morphine and then heroin are produced, though production 
dropped last year after a ban by the Taliban, who then controlled most of 
the country. American officials have expressed concern that a large harvest 
this spring in Afghanistan will inundate world markets.

Instead of risking contributing to instability in Afghanistan with a 
crackdown, American and British authorities have said they will concentrate 
on trying to strengthen anti-smuggling activities in countries bordering 
Afghanistan. 
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