Turkey: 2.2 million cannabis and skunk plants destroyed, 96 held in 28 provinces
Turkey's Interior Ministry said gendarmerie operations in 28 provinces against drug sellers and illegal cannabis growing caught 96 suspects, 69 of whom were remanded. The ministry said officers destroyed 2.2 million rooted cannabis and skunk plants and seized 104 kilograms of drugs and 294,000 pills.
Turkey’s Interior Ministry said that gendarmerie teams had raided drug sellers
and illegal cannabis growers in 28 provinces, and that 96 suspects were caught.[1]Of the 96 suspects, 69 were remanded in custody and 27 were placed under
judicial control, the ministry said.[1]The ministry said the suspects sold
drugs through social media and messaging apps, grew illegal cannabis and skunk,
and ran the drug trade in an organised way.[1]
The ministry said 2,200,000 rooted cannabis and skunk plants were destroyed.[1]Officers also seized104 kilograms of drugs and 294,000 drug pills, a
combined figure the ministry did not break down by substance.[1]
The raids were run by provincial gendarmerie commands under the Gendarmerie
General Command’s anti-narcotics department and public prosecutors, with 1,326
narcotics and public-order teams and 7,956 personnel taking part.[2]The
ministry published the statement on its social media accounts and said
operations against drug makers and sellers would continue without pause.[2]The ministry said in the statement that its fight against street sellers, drug
makers and illegal drug cultivation would continue without interruption.[3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The ministry's statement gives no date or date range for the raids; 11 August 2026 is the date of the statement and of publication, and is used as the incident date.
The 28 provinces are not named in the statement.
No breakdown is given of the 104 kilograms of drugs or the 294,000 pills, so they cannot be counted as cannabis; only the plants are recorded here.
The statement does not say how many plants were destroyed in which province, and gives no field area.
No individual suspects, charges or court decisions are named; tutuklandı means remanded in custody pending investigation or trial.
No value estimate for the drugs or the plants was published.
The ministry runs similar published operations in other provinces in 2026; this report covers only the 28-province results announced on 11 August 2026.
The Sabah and Cumhuriyet texts reproduce the ministry statement, so they are not independent reporting; the ministry's own page or X post could not be opened.
The text gives a weight ("104 kilograms") but the figures have no kg_seized; check whether it belongs there.
Customs officers at the Esendere border gate in Hakkari stopped a Turkish traveller arriving from Iran and found 49.56 grams of suspected cannabis hidden in his shoe soles. The Yüksekova Chief Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation into the seizure.
Gendarmerie teams in Odunpazarı, Eskişehir, searched a home following an investigation into illicit drug production and seized 310 grams of esrar and six cannabis plants. One suspect was detained and faces investigation for drug possession and unlawful cannabis cultivation.
Nevşehir anti-narcotics police placed 14 people under judicial proceedings after a week of operations, including 12 reported drug users and two accused of violating Law No. 2313. Officers seized a cannabis-growing setup, 11 cannabis seeds and 1.62 grams of kubar esrar alongside methamphetamine, synthetic cannabinoids and pills that are not counted as cannabis.
Gaziantep anti-narcotics police searched a car in the city and seized 12 kilograms of skunk, a form of cannabis, detaining one suspect. The operation, coordinated by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, targeted drug sellers, and the suspect was referred to the judicial authorities.
