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According to an unpublished report by the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau (KOM) discovered by Today's Zaman, the fight against illegal drugs in Turkey declined in 2014 due to a lack of motivation in the police force resulting in the quantity of drugs seized by KOM falling by half between 2013 and 2014.
The KOM report, which has not yet been released, shows that the KOM only seized 83,840 kilograms of marijuana in 2014 whereas 166,268 kilograms were seized in 2013 and only 245,000 Captagon pills in 2014 versus 4,483,000 in 2014 -- 20 times less than it was in 2013. The only increase in the quantity of drugs seized was of bonsai and heroin. The KOM seized 533 kilograms of bonsai in 2014 but only 221 kilograms in 201, while 10 tons of heroine was seized in 2014 compared to nine tons in 2013. However, the overall average of seized illegal drugs in 2014 was half that of 2013 the report shows. İstanbul, Van, Kocaeli, Adana, Gaziantep, Hakkari, Çorum and Samsun are the main provinces where police seized the majority of illegal drugs in 2014.
The main reason for the KOM's failure steams from orders by the head of the organization, Orhan Özdemir, to fight the “parallel structure” within the state rather than combat the smuggling of illegal drugs via Turkey, a source in the KOM told Today's Zaman.
The “parallel structure” is a term invented by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to refer to followers -- particularly within the state bureaucracy -- of the Gülen movement, also known as the Hizmet movement, inspired by the prominent Turkish Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gülen.
Erdoğan made the elimination of the so-called “parallel structure” within the state bureaucracy a priority after a major corruption scandal involving people in his inner circle erupted with a wave of detentions on Dec. 17, 2013. Then-Prime Minister Erdoğan, without presenting concrete evidence, presented the corruption investigation as a “plot against his government” by the Gülen movement and foreign collaborators. The movement denies the allegations.
According to the anonymous source in KOM, Özdemir is responsible for reshuffling the KOM with experienced police officers either sent to other police departments unrelated to their previous posts or suspended on accusations of being members of the “parallel structure.” “The police officers in the pre-Dec. 17, 2013 period were focused on their specialization, therefore the crime rate was at its lowest. But the witch-hunt in the period after Dec. 17 provided a convenient environment for drug smugglers,” the source said.
Since the graft scandal broke, scores of police officers and police chiefs have been detained or arrested on charges of taking part in a perceived plot against the government. According to unofficial figures from a number of media outlets, some 2,500 police officers and police chiefs have been reassigned since Dec. 17, 2013. Many experts say that as a result of the reshuffling, cities especially in the eastern regions of Turkey are more vulnerable to acts of terrorism and other crimes as many experienced police officers and chiefs were sent to less effective posts.
Illegal drugs seized by police in 2013-2014
Substance 2013 2014 (%)
Marijuana 166 tons 83 tons -49.6
Ecstasy 3 mln (pills) 1 mln -53.8
Captagon 4 mln (pills) 245.000 -94.5
Cocaine 430 kg 378 kg -12.1
Opium Gum 167 kg 159 kg -4.8
Methamphetamine 101 kg 86 kg -14.9
Synthetic Ecza 323.000 19.000 -94.0
Bonsai 221 kg 533 kg 141.2
Heroin 9 tons 10 tons 1.8
Bayram Kaya, Ankara (Cihan/Today's Zaman)
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