A Turkish government official has for the first time publicly addressed a record maritime seizure of cocaine carried out by Spain, announcing the detention of seven suspects in Turkey in connection with the operation, which netted nearly 10 metric tons of the drug.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a post on X on Monday that Turkish police had detained seven people in coordinated raids across six provinces as part of an investigation linked to the seizure carried out by Spanish authorities in international waters.
Uluslararası sularda seyir halindeyken bir gemiye İspanya güvenlik birimlerince düzenlenen operasyonda aralarında 4 Türk, 1 Sırp, 1 Macar ve 7 Hint uyruklu olmak üzere toplam 13 mürettebat gözaltına alınmış, 10 Ton Kokain ele geçirilmişti.
Söz konusu operasyonla bağlantılı… pic.twitter.com/GbaQGVJrqH
— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) January 18, 2026
Yerlikaya said the operation, conducted by the İstanbul police department’s narcotics unit under the coordination of the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, targeted suspects believed to be connected to the shipment. Raids were carried out simultaneously in İstanbul, Mersin, Tekirdağ, Kocaeli, Sakarya and Hatay.
Spanish security forces intercepted a cargo ship in international waters earlier this month and seized nearly 10 tons of cocaine, arresting all 13 crew members aboard the vessel. The detainees included four Turkish nationals as well as citizens of Serbia, Hungary and India, according to Yerlikaya’s statement.
Spanish police said last week that the Cameroonian-flagged vessel was intercepted on January 6 while heading toward Europe. Authorities found 9,994 kilograms of cocaine concealed in 294 packages hidden among a shipment of salt. The operation, code-named “White Tide,” involved cooperation with law enforcement agencies from the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, France and Portugal.
Turkish authorities had remained publicly silent about the case until Yerlikaya’s statement, despite widespread media coverage and political criticism in Turkey.
Turkish media previously reported that the ship, identified as the United S, was owned by Kamer Shipping & Trading Co., a company based in Turkey. A separate Turkish firm, Kamer Marine Denizcilik, later issued a statement denying any ownership or operational ties to the vessel, saying confusion had arisen due to the similarity in company names.
Spanish authorities have not publicly accused any Turkey-based company of wrongdoing, and the investigation remains ongoing.
The case has attracted criticism from the opposition, particularly over the absence of Turkish law enforcement units from the international operation. Murat Bakan, a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), questioned Interior Ministry officials about whether Turkish authorities had launched their own investigation and whether financial trails linked to the shipment were being examined.
Spain described the seizure as the largest maritime cocaine bust in its history.