Turkish prosecutors on Wednesday detained 18 people, including former national football player Ümit Karan, as part of an ongoing drug investigation led by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the private DHA news agency reported.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said in statement that the operation was carried out by İstanbul police anti-narcotics and organized crime units in an investigation conducted by the Bureau for Smuggling, Narcotics and Financial Crimes.
The detainees are accused of drug trafficking, facilitating drug use and encouraging or mediating prostitution, including providing locations for such activities, according to the statement.
Prosecutors did not provide further details on the specific allegations against individual suspects.
Karan, a former Galatasaray player and also a former football coach, was detained at İstanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport on Tuesday, according to media reports.
Earlier this week, police also detained six people, including actor Oktay Kaynarca and singer Emel Müftüoğlu. Two of the suspects were arrested, while Kaynarca and Müftüoğlu were released under judicial supervision with a travel ban.
The latest detentions are part of a broader series of drug operations launched in İstanbul in recent months that have increasingly involved figures from the television, music and media sectors.
Earlier phases of the investigation saw dozens of suspects detained or arrested on similar charges, with some later released after providing statements and biological samples.
Critics say the investigations are aimed at creating the perception that the government is waging a serious anti-drug campaign regardless of who is involved, while focusing on street-level dealers and users rather than those alleged to be involved in large-scale drug trafficking.
According to a 2025 report by the Turkish police, Turkey has moved beyond its traditional role as a transit route for illegal drugs and has increasingly become both a destination market and a production hub, particularly for synthetic substances. The report documented a sharp increase in drug-related operations, with dozens of facilities uncovered in İstanbul alone.
Turkey lies on major land and sea routes linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe, and officials say traffickers are increasingly using the country not only to move drugs onward but also to process and manufacture them.
Drug-related deaths rose 42 percent to 427 in 2024, with synthetic cannabinoids and methamphetamine the most frequently detected substances in fatal cases, according to the report.