Migrant smuggling raids sweep Türkiye, dozens detained

Türkiye’s security forces continued nationwide operations against irregular migration and migrant smuggling on Tuesday, detaining and rescuing dozens of migrants in separate land and sea operations across the country.

In the western provinces of Çanakkale, Aydın, Edirne and Kırklareli, authorities detained or rescued a total of 90 irregular migrants in separate incidents, while an operation in Istanbul targeting migrant smuggling uncovered a suspected network allegedly forcing foreign nationals to work and detaining their passports.

In Çanakkale, 37 irregular migrants, including 17 children, were detained off the coast of Ayvacık after authorities received information about a group of migrants at sea.

The Turkish Coast Guard dispatched the KB-76 patrol boat and TCSG-61 coast guard vessel to the area. Officers stopped a moving inflatable boat carrying the migrants.

Two suspects were also detained by Ayvacık district gendarmerie on suspicion of migrant smuggling.

The migrants were transferred to the Irregular Migrants Pre-Admission and Referral Center, known by its Turkish acronym GÖKSEM, after completing the required administrative procedures.

In the Aegean province of Aydın, the Coast Guard rescued 31 irregular migrants after their inflatable boat suffered engine failure and began drifting off the coast of Didim.

The group included 20 Sudanese, five Ethiopians, three Chadians, two Sierra Leoneans and one Egyptian national. They were rescued by the KB-87 coast guard boat after authorities received a distress call.

Administrative procedures concerning the rescued migrants were ongoing.

Meanwhile, security forces detained 22 irregular migrants during separate inspections in Edirne and Kırklareli, provinces bordering Bulgaria and Greece.

Authorities in Edirne identified nine foreign nationals who had allegedly entered Türkiye through illegal routes during inspections across the province. They were handed over to the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management for processing.

In neighboring Kırklareli, security forces detained 13 irregular migrants during inspections across the province. They were transferred to the Pehlivanköy Removal Center.

Istanbul operation

In Istanbul, authorities launched a separate operation targeting migrant smuggling and detained four suspects after identifying an address in the Bakırköy district where foreign nationals without legal residency rights were allegedly being housed and forced to work.

The Istanbul Police Department’s Anti-Migrant Smuggling and Border Gates Branch conducted the operation following an investigation into the suspected network.

Police determined that the suspects had allegedly confiscated migrants’ passports and forced them to work. Investigators also found that numerous foreign women were entering and leaving the address and that migrants without legal residency rights were being directed to designated communication channels through live social media broadcasts.

Four suspects identified by the initials Y.B., H.D., A.D. and O.R. were detained during an operation at the address.

During the raid, seven women without legal residency rights and seven other foreign women were taken into custody after attempting to escape through a balcony and move into neighboring apartments.

Police seized 17 mobile phones, a tablet and numerous notebooks during a search of the premises.

The suspects remained in police custody for questioning, while the foreign nationals without legal residency rights were transferred to a Removal Center for further processing.

DAILYSABAH