Turkish police uncover 350 kg of cocaine hidden in cargo ship hull

Police at Turkey’s Mersin port confiscated roughly 350 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside a compartment of the cargo ship CSPC Pisces, detaining nine individuals suspected of trafficking. The drugs, divided into twelve packages, were located near an intake used for the vessel’s engine-cooling system, and investigators also seized diving gear and an underwater scooter intended for the retrieval operation. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said the smugglers planned to use divers to extract the cocaine and transport it to western provinces.

The Liberia-flagged vessel, built in 2026, had sailed from Brazil and made its last stop in Tarragona, Spain before arriving on September 11. The probe was coordinated by the Mersin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office with anti-narcotics and intelligence units from both Mersin and Istanbul police, marking another large seizure at a port that has become a key entry point for Latin American cocaine.