With the notices, smuggled goods worth 46 million lira were seized last year.
– The amount of smuggled goods seized by the Ministry of Commerce with the intelligence studies carried out in the national and international arena, as well as the denunciations, amounted to 187 million liras.
ANKARA (AA) – DENİZ ÇİÇEK – Ministry of Commerce confiscated 46 million lira of smuggled goods last year, thanks to the notifications from the citizens on the “ALO 136 Customs Enforcement Report Line”.
According to the compilation made from the Ministry’s data, the aforementioned hotline operates in order to provide the support of citizens in the fight against smuggling.
While the hotline provides service on a 24/7 basis, the personnel working here conveys any information that constitutes a notification to the relevant provincial or central units as soon as possible. In this context, notifications are received regarding all kinds of smuggling activities by air, land and sea.
In addition to the free call line, the online notification page of the Ministry is also used. This page can be accessed from the address “https://ticaret.gov.tr/onlineihbar”.
Last year, 9 thousand 144 calls were received, 807 of which were notifications, and 466 of these notifications were concluded.
While 168 of the denunciations were finalized, the total value of the seized goods amounted to 46 million liras. As a result of the reports, 36 million lira of goods were seized in 2021.
Last year, in addition to the ALO 136 Customs Enforcement Hotline, 895 applications were received, including 544 e-mail notifications, 230 CIMER applications and 121 from other channels. In this context, the value of the seized goods was calculated as 135 million liras.
International operations were signed
With the intelligence studies carried out in the national and international arena, smuggled goods worth 187 million liras were seized in 2022, an increase of 222 percent compared to the previous year.
Within the scope of anti-smuggling activities, information and intelligence information is shared with other law enforcement agencies and institutions, and joint operations are carried out. In addition, training activities are organized to improve personnel capacity.
The teams participated in 8 operations within the scope of international intelligence studies in 2022.
18 cooperation and consultation meetings were held with accredited foreign country customs and police liaison officers in Turkey to exchange international knowledge and experience on combating smuggling.
Apart from the bilateral intelligence sharing meetings with foreign liaison officers, many studies were conducted with the Southeastern Europe Law Enforcement Center for information exchange and experience sharing. As a result of the joint operational studies and sharing of intelligence information, many arrests were made.
