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Turkish authorities captured a suspect wanted internationally by Belgian judicial authorities on drug trafficking and organized crime charges in Istanbul, Türkiye's Interior Ministry announced Wednesday.
The suspect, identified as S.G., was sought through an Interpol diffusion notice on charges of "drug trafficking and establishing a criminal organization" and had been identified as "holding a leadership position in one of Belgium's major cocaine trafficking organizations," the ministry said.
The arrest took place in Istanbul's Zeytinburnu district following a coordinated operation by the Istanbul Police Department's Narcotics Crimes and Intelligence Branches targeting internationally wanted suspects.
According to the ministry, S.G. headed an organized criminal group that operated an international drug trafficking network established in Belgium.
Investigators determined that the suspect and his organization had smuggled 2 tons of cocaine concealed in 6 tons of copper powder from Colombia to Belgium, where the drugs were subsequently distributed to other European countries.
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Authorities also found that S.G. had generated substantial revenue from the shipments and maintained connections in Colombia.
The ministry added that the suspect had procured chemicals used to extract cocaine from the material in which it had been absorbed.
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