In a major drug bust, five Iranian passengers were caught at Izmir’s international airport in Aegean Turkey for carrying capsules containing heroin in their stomachs, security sources said on Wednesday.
The five men arrived in Turkey from Iran last week, added the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
The smugglers had swallowed a total of 298 capsules containing 3.385 kilograms (7 pounds) of heroin.
They were tracked as part of an ongoing operation to curb drug trafficking from Iran, according to the sources.
They said Izmir’s anti-narcotics police were monitoring the movement of people from Iran for over three months.
The five men were stopped in Adnan Menderes Airport for a check on arrival in Izmir last week.
Nothing was found until they were made to undergo an X-ray scan that revealed hundreds of capsules in their stomachs.
Authorities are now working to track and destroy their distribution networks in Turkey.
