A Europol statement provided a different number of total arrests, putting the number at 232. According to Europol’s statement, four suspects were arrested in the Netherlands, two in Germany, and one each in Belgium and Spain.

The operation was preceded by an eight-month-long investigation, which included information and document sharing with Iran, France, England, Australia, the US, Greece, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Brazil. 

“We have seized assets worth approximately 13 billion liras (over $341 million), including 681 properties, 127 vehicles, shares in 113 companies and the bank accounts of the suspects, as identified by MASAK,” Yerlikaya said. 

“The individuals we identified were responsible for 21.2 tons of seized drugs and over 3.3 million illicit pills” in Turkey and abroad, he said. A statement from Europol confirmed that these pills were MDMA tablets, a stimulant-hallucinogenic drug also known as Ecstasy. 

“This was a massive, global criminal structure. In addition to drug trafficking and laundering proceeds, the networks were involved in murder, armed assault, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, extortion, and intimidation through shootings and threats,” the interior minister said. 

Yerlikaya explained that the operation primarily targeted four major international cartels involved in trafficking cocaine from South America, heroin from Iran and Afghanistan, cannabis through the Balkans, and MDMA from European countries into Turkey. He added that the organizations also smuggled chemicals for drug production from East Asia into Europe via Turkey.

In Turkey, individuals who purchase, sell or use drugs for personal use may face a sentence ranging from two to five years in prison. The punishment for drug trafficking can be much more severe, reaching 20 to 30 years.