Cigarettes smuggled from Georgia, Northern Iraq, Bulgaria

Smuggled cigarettes arrive in Turkey from Georgia, northern Iraq and Bulgaria, while there are large sums of money being transferred from the eastern parts of Turkey to Istanbul in line with smuggling activities, according to recent data from Turkey's financial crime investigation board (MASAK), daily Milliyet has reported.

Additionally, close ties were detected between some of the smugglers and extensions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Europe, according to the report. 

The inspectors from the MASAK and the Turkish Customs Ministry prepared a detailed report on 
the smuggled cigarette flow into Turkey. 

There has been a huge increase in the amount of smuggled cigarettes in Turkey in the last few years, so the official authorities have put this issue under closer focus. The recent official reports were prepared after months of detailed investigations.

Cigarettes smuggled to southern province  

A large volume of cigarettes were smuggled from northern Iraq, Georgia and Bulgaria to the southern province of Mersin as well as several eastern, Black Sea and southeastern provinces, before they spread across to the country, mainly to Istanbul, according to the official report.

The most common brand in the smuggled cigarettes market was owned by the Bulgartabac company, which sold its cigarettes, under the brand name Prestige, to Salam Qader Faraj in northern Iraq, according to the report. 

The inspectors examined the consignment bills of the cigarettes in the Mersin Port and discovered the intermediary firm had close ties with Arbil-based Eagle Group, which was owned by Nihat and Serdar Barzani.

The inspectors learned the intermediary firm also played a role in transferring money...