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Over 11 tons of bootleg alcohol seized in Turkey

A picture taken on August 28, 2017 shows wine barrels at the Suvla wine company in Canakkale. On the verdant, fertile Gallipoli peninsula in northwest Turkey, headscarf-clad women in colourful clothes harvest grapes in the blistering late summer heat. Suvla started up in Gallipoli in the 2000s, mainly with French grape varieties like Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. / AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSE (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

A picture taken on August 28, 2017 shows wine barrels in Canakkale [OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images]

Turkish forces seized 11,400 litres of bootleg alcohol and 300 litres of smuggled alcohol in nationwide operations, security sources said Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Moreover, five suspects were detained.

Acting on a tip-off, gendarmerie forces raided a house in Menderes district of the western Izmir province and seized 11,200 litres of bootleg alcohol, said a source on condition of anonymity.

Also, in a separate operation in Narlidere town of the province, 3,560 litres of ethyl alcohol were seized.

An operation is underway to arrest a suspect.

Over 2,800 litres of bootleg alcohol seized in Turkey

In the northwestern province of Bursa, police teams seized 210 litres of counterfeit alcohol at two different addresses. Two suspects were also nabbed in the raids.

In a related development, police in the Mediterranean city of Mersin seized 300 litres of smuggled alcohol along with 9 litres of counterfeit alcohol.

Additionally, in Bodrum’s district of Mugla, police found 240 litres of bootleg alcohol in a car. Two people in the vehicle were also arrested.

Bootleg alcohol is made by using low-cost methyl alcohol instead of ethyl alcohol, which causes serious harm to human health and, in some cases, even death.

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