Immigrant smuggling operation in 34 provinces: 81 organizers were caught, 63 were arrested

The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that 81 organizers were caught in the "Combating Immigrant Smuggling" operations carried out simultaneously in 34 provinces. While 63 of the suspects referred to judicial authorities were arrested and sent to prison, judicial control provisions were applied to 18 of them.

The statement made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs is as follows:

Under the coordination of the Gendarmerie General Command's Department of Combating Immigrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking; Provincial Gendarmerie Commands carried out simultaneous operations in 34 provinces against immigrant smuggling.

Adana, Ağrı, Aksaray, Ankara, Antalya, Ardahan, Artvin, Aydın, Bingöl, Bitlis, Çanakkale, Düzce, Edirne, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Hakkâri, Hatay, Iğdır, İstanbul, İzmir, Kahramanmaraş, Kayseri, Kırklareli, Kilis, Mersin, Muğla, Osmaniye, Sakarya, Şanlıurfa, In Şırnak, Tekirdağ, Van and Yalova; As a result of the coordinated efforts carried out by the Gendarmerie Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (JİHA) from the air and the public order, highway and commando teams from the ground, 2 thousand 116 irregular immigrants who entered the country illegally were caught. The captured irregular immigrants were handed over to the Provincial Directorates of Immigration Management to initiate deportation procedures.

Within the scope of the operations, 111 vehicles and 10 boats and boat engines, which were determined to be used in immigrant smuggling, were seized. While 63 of the 81 immigrant smuggling organizers were arrested, judicial control provisions were applied to 18 of them.

We congratulate our heroic Gendarmerie, our Department and all those who contributed.