Gendarmerie destroys 217,608 cannabis plants in Lice and Kulp
Turkey's Interior Ministry said on 21 September 2026 that gendarmerie teams had destroyed 217,608 cannabis and skunk plants on 99 illegal plots in the Lice and Kulp districts of Diyarbakır. The ministry said the crop could have yielded about five tonnes of cannabis powder and that 15 kg of cannabis was also seized. It reported no arrests.
Turkey’s Interior Ministry said on 21 September 2026 that gendarmerie teams had destroyed 217,608 cannabis and skunk plants in Diyarbakır.[1][2][3]The work covered 99 illegal plots in the districts of Lice and Kulp, found with remote sensing under a plan against illegal cannabis cultivation.[1][2][3]
Sixty-four teams and 570 personnel took part, coordinated by the Gendarmerie General Command’s narcotics department and the chief public prosecutors of Lice and Kulp.[1][2][3]The ministry said the plants could have yielded about five tonnes of cannabis powder, and that 15 kilograms of cannabis were also seized.[1]Xinhua reported the same plant count and the five-tonne estimate.[2]
T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığıicisleri.gov.trTRDiyarbakır’da Yasa Dışı Kenevir Ekimine Yönelik Operasyonlarda 5 Ton Toz Esrar Elde Edilebilecek 217 Bin 608 Kök Kenevir ve Skunk İmha Edildi
The statement gives no separate day for the fieldwork. 21 September 2026 is the date of the ministry announcement.
The five tonnes is the ministry's estimate of cannabis powder the plants could have yielded, not a weight that was seized. The 15 kg is a separate seizure stated by the ministry. Xinhua does not mention the 15 kg.
No one was reported arrested.
The map marks Lice. Kulp is the other district named and is not given a separate point.
The ministry page opened here carried no photograph of the plots.
Turkey's interior ministry said on 28 October 2026 that gendarmerie teams in 32 provinces had destroyed 119,772 cannabis and skunk plants. Of 423 suspects caught, 298 were remanded and 125 were released under judicial control.
Gendarmerie teams destroyed 48,579 cannabis plants at 35 sites across Yenişehir, Eğil and Sur. Türkiye’s Interior Ministry reported that officers seized 36 kilograms of cannabis and estimated that the destroyed crop could have yielded 1.2 tonnes.
Gendarmerie teams seized 12,389,000 cannabis and skunk plants and 127 kg of cannabis in Lice, Diyarbakır, in an operation announced on 14 June 2025. All 22 suspects caught were remanded in custody by the courts.
Arrested 22Plants destroyed 12,389,000Cannabis 127 kg
Governor-led teams raided cannabis fields in seven districts of Diyarbakır with 2,212 personnel, a helicopter and drones, destroying 7,543,818 cannabis and skunk plants. The governor's office said the plants could have produced 174 tonnes of hashish, and eight people were detained. The operation was one of the largest in the southeast, where most illegal cannabis cultivation is found.
