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Six people, including well-known actor Oktay Kaynarca and singer Emel Muftuoglu, were taken into custody Tuesday as part of a drug investigation in Istanbul, authorities said.
Kaynarca, best known for his role in the hit Turkish television series "Valley of the Wolves" (Kurtlar Vadisi), and Muftuoglu were among the six suspects detained during operations carried out by Istanbul police.
According to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, detention orders were issued for six suspects under an investigation led by the Smuggling, Narcotics and Financial Crimes Investigation Bureau.
The suspects are being investigated on charges including possession of narcotic or stimulant substances for personal use, facilitating the use of narcotics, encouraging or facilitating prostitution, acting as an intermediary for prostitution or providing a place for it, and providing a venue and means for illegal gambling.
Police operations were carried out by teams from the Narcotics Crimes Department and the Provincial Gendarmerie Command.
Authorities said those detained, in addition to Kaynarca and Muftuoglu, were identified as Neda Sahin, Ali Sert, Rabia Karatas and Selen Cetinkaya.
No formal charges had been announced as of Tuesday. The investigation is ongoing.
Drug use and addiction remain a growing public health and security concern in Türkiye.
According to Health Ministry data, 2.6% of the population aged 15 and over — roughly 1.74 million people — have used an illegal substance at least once.
Official assessments indicate that Türkiye has increasingly shifted from being primarily a transit route in international drug trafficking networks to becoming a significant consumer market, with synthetic drugs spreading rapidly, particularly in Istanbul.
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