Illegal drug trade

The newspaper "Semana" states that Otoniel, in order to form a network for illegal trade, established connections in Panama, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Belgium.

Anti-narcotics teams in the capital Ankara have unveiled cocaine traffic between a Colombian drug cartel, Cali, and seven Turkish drug barons in a nine-month surveillance, according to a report by the daily Hürriyet.

"Cali cartel sent the drugs in boxes of flowers, bananas, coffee or strawberries, using air and sea routes," the report said on Oct. 3.

Ecuador is trying to restore order in one of its largest prisons after a riot that killed at least 116 prisoners in the latest attack of violence, which authorities linked to groups fighting to control drug trafficking routes, Reuters reports.

Turkish security forces seized more than 714 kilograms (1,574 pounds) of heroin on July 23.

In one operation, police in İpekyolu district of eastern Van province captured more than 265 kilos (584 pounds) of heroin and arrested two suspects on allegations of drug trafficking, according to a statement by the provincial police department.

A total of 6.1 tons of drugs and 15.2 tons of materials used for drug production have been seized this year, Trade Minister Mehmet Muş has said.

He noted that earlier this month, customs officials first seized 1.3 tons of cocaine in a shipping container at the port in the southern province of Mersin.

Custom enforcement officers have seized 1 ton of cocaine at the Mersin Port in southern Turkey.

This is the largest amount of cocaine ever seized in the country, Trade Minister Mehmet Muş said on Twitter, congratulating the General Directorate of Customs Protection units for the "successful operation."

Ten people from Belgium, the Netherlands and Romania were arrested in record drug seizure - 1,452 kilograms of heroin - in the Port of Constanta. According to Eurojust, it is about 10 suspects, who are part of a group of traffickers specialized in bringing large quantities of heroin to Europe.

Customs teams confiscated over a ton of Captagon drug pills at the İskenderun Port in southern Turkey, the biggest seizure of its kind, the country's trade minister said on May 16. 

A total of 1,072 kilograms (2,000 pounds) of Captagon drugs - more than 6.2 million pills - were seized during search by customs officials of Hatay province from May 15-16, Mehmet Muş said on Twitter.

Drug trafficking is the chief source of 'dirty money' penetrating Albania's meagre economy, according to authorities, helping to finance political corruption, sway elections and win protection from prosecution.

Three major Covid-19 vaccines are being advertised for sale on the darknet - the part of the internet not visible to search engines and which requires specialised software to access, an analysis of 15 marketplaces has found.