Report: Drug trafficking via Turkey on the rise

Report: Drug trafficking via Turkey on the rise:

İstanbul, Çanakkale straits new pathways for smuggling cocaine

All of the cocaine smuggling operations busted by Turkish security forces took place in İstanbul. Police say that the İstanbul and Çanakkale straits are the routes of choice for cocaine smugglers, who opt to utilize Bulgarian and Romanian-flagged ships, which have the right of free passage through the straits, to transport cocaine shipments to Russia.

Police teams said that in 2009 over one ton of cocaine was seized in Greece, noting that in connection with this, cocaine was smuggled through the Turkish straits and out through the Black Sea.