Gendarmerie in Lice, Diyarbakir, burned 20 tonnes 766 kg 679 g of cannabis in the open destruction area of the district gendarmerie command, in the presence of a committee formed by the governorship.[1][2] The stock had been seized across Diyarbakir province in operations during 2023 and 2024.[1][2] Officers set the sacks alight in the open and arranged them to spell the town’s name, Lice, sharing images of the burn.[1][2]
The smoke covered the skies over Lice, a town of 25,000, and its effects persisted five days later.[1][2] Residents could not open their windows for days, and reported dizziness, nausea and hallucinations from the thick weed smoke.[1][2] A resident who spoke anonymously said children fell ill and families kept going to hospital, adding that the same problem recurred every year and asking for destructions to move outside the city.[1]
Criticism of the method
Yahya Oger, chair of the Green Star anti-addiction association, said the police success against production and street sellers deserved praise but the destruction method was unprofessional.[1][2] He called spelling Lice with the drug sacks unacceptable and said burning cannabis in the town centre risked serious discomfort and intoxication, as with passive tobacco smoke.[1][2] He urged authorities to destroy seized drugs in factories with filtered chimneys or far from town centres for health and safety.[1][2]
The destroyed cannabis was valued at 10 billion Turkish lira (about 261.4 million dollars), according to the second account.[2]
