Global General

Turkey to host Drugs Working Group meeting

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-20 20:47

ANKARA - The annual meeting of the Drugs Working Group (DWG), an entity of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI), will take place in the Turkish province of Ankara next week, local media reported Friday.

The 17th annual meeting of the DWG will be held between May 24 and 26, with 60 narcotics experts from 34 countries to attend, the Turkish Gendarmerie was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying in a statement.

The ENFSI was established in 1995 with the purpose of sharing knowledge, exchanging experiences and coming to mutual agreements in the field of forensic science.

Turkish security forces impounded 70 tonnes of hashish, 11 tonnes of heroin and almost 2 million illicit pills in their operations throughout Turkey in 2010, with 40,211 people detained in connection with illicit drug trafficking, according to Anatolia.

Turkey is a key transit route for smuggling drugs from Asia and the Middle East to markets in western Europe.