Turkey comes across biggest smuggling case to date

Turkey has launched a major operation aimed at bringing down a suspected gang that illegally brought in over 1,000 tons of beef from Paraguay, the customs minister has said, describing the haul as Turkey’s biggest ever smuggling case.

Turkish investors last week carried out raids on five storage spaces in the southern city of Mersin, where 1,044 tons of smuggled red meat had been stored, said Customs Minister NurettinCanikli.

“The meat was supposedly going to Syria and Iraq through the border gate of Cilvegözü, according to the customs documents. We, however, discovered that almost all of the meat was sold on the Turkish market without any duty being paid,” he said.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-seeks-to-bust-vast-meat-smuggling-racket-minister.aspx?pageID=238&nID=74143&NewsCatID=344