165 kg of heroin seized in E Turkey

Turkish police seized 165 kg of heroin in the province of Van of eastern Turkey on Friday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Staging an operation, police stopped a truck on Van-Bitlis highway, and found the drug stashed in the vehicle, according to the report.

Police detained 11 suspected people in connection with the illicit drug trafficking, said the report.

Van Security Department Chief Rafet Mert was quoted as saying that police had confiscated 1.2 tons of heroin and 1.4 tons of hashish in the operations conducted since the beginning of 2010.

Turkey is a key transit route for smuggling drugs from Asia and the Middle East to markets in western Europe.

Source: Xinhua