ANKARA, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Turkey set an all-time record high for drugs seizures at its borders in the first 11 months of 2017, Customs Minister Bulent Tufenkci said Thursday.
"From January to November 2017, the amount of drugs seized in Turkey has increased by 11 times compared to the same period in 2016 and rose to around 26 tons from 2.3 tons," Tufenkci was quoted by Anadolu Agency as saying.
Near 5,000 seizures between January and November have seen contraband worth 547.7 million U.S. dollar confiscated, according to the minister.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdag said on Sunday that the government is fighting against drugs. The amount of drugs caught in Turkey is more than the total of the cases in Europe.
In October, Turkish security forces seized more than five tons of drugs in nationwide anti-narcotic operations, Turkey's Security General Directorate said on Monday.
More than three tons of hashish and nearly 2.5 tons of heroin were seized during the operations.
Turkey lies on the trafficking route for smugglers shipping heroin from Afghanistan to Europe.
