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The Mersin Port Police seized approximately 350 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the hull of a cargo vessel that arrived from Brazil. Nine suspects were arrested, as announced by Turkey's Justice Minister, Akin Gürlek.
The drug, divided into 12 packages, was found near a water intake used by the engine's cooling system of the vessel, identified as CSPC Pisces. Its estimated black market value amounts to 30.9 million dollars.
In line with Gürlek's details, members of the alleged drug trafficking network planned to use divers to retrieve the packages from the submerged section of the vessel and transport the cocaine to the western provinces.
The Mersin Chief Public Prosecutor's Office coordinated the investigation, which involved anti-narcotics and intelligence units from the Mersin and Istanbul Police departments.
Public maritime records identify the CSPC Pisces as a Liberian-flagged cargo vessel built in 2026. Tracking data shows that its last port before Mersin was Tarragona, Spain, and it arrived in Mersin on September 11.
The nine suspects were arrested on suspicion of manufacturing and trafficking narcotics. The investigation is ongoing.
The operation adds to another large seizure made at the same port in January, when police confiscated 298 kilograms of cocaine in a container whose declared cargo was peanuts, also shipped from Brazil.
Mersin has become a key entry point for cocaine transported from Latin America. A 2025 Turkish police report revealed that cocaine seizures reached a record 3.08 metric tons in 2024, representing a 23% increase from the previous year.
In total, authorities seized 4.1 metric tons of cocaine at Mersin port between 2018 and 2024.
In October 2023, police seized 610 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a banana shipment from Ecuador at the same port.
Furthermore, a multi-provincial operation carried out in April 2024 resulted in the seizure of 608 kilograms of cocaine and the arrest of 13 suspects.
