Turkish politician's car caught smuggling e-cigarettes worth $60,000.

Sep.23.2024
Turkish politician's car caught smuggling e-cigarettes worth $60,000.
Turkish MP's car found smuggling $200,000 worth of e-cigarettes and accessories, driver and passenger detained then released.

According to a report from Sabah on September 23, a member of the opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), named Ediz Ün, had his car discovered carrying a large quantity of smuggled e-cigarettes and accessories in the Turkish city of Edirne. The total market value of the items was estimated to be around 2 million Turkish lira (approximately 6,000 US dollars).


According to reports, the vehicle belonged to lawmaker Ediz En. Inside the car, authorities found 530 empty e-cigarette boxes, 2242 e-cigarette kits, 2790 e-cigarette smoke heads, 1275 lighters, 130 e-liquid storage tanks, and 18 bottles of e-liquid. These items were all identified as smuggled goods, with a total market value of approximately 2 million lira. The driver, Fatih A., and a passenger were detained and processed for smuggling charges, but were later released by the court.


Congressman Ediz released a statement claiming that he was not aware of the contraband in the vehicle and has filed a lawsuit against the prosecutor. According to investigations, he had exited the vehicle 40 minutes before it was intercepted by the police, and evidence shows that the vehicle was driven back by him from Bulgaria.


Of more concern is that Congressman Eddie N has used two vehicles with different license plates to travel to Bulgaria as many as 125 times this year. According to investigations, he left the country at 3am on September 20th and returned at 3pm the same day driving the vehicle, with Fatih A as the driver, and the vehicle was not inspected at customs.


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