35 arrests at Habur Customs

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Gendarmerie forces staged a security operation at the Habur Border gate between Turkey and Iraq early on Wednesday, taking 35 customs officials in custody for suspected involvement in smuggling oil from Iraq and distributing it in neighboring provinces.In a tip-off, Silopi Prosecutor's Office was told that some truck drivers and customs officials were allowing the smuggling of oil into the country. The operation at the Habur Gate started at 4 a.m. on Wednesday morning, with prosecutors seizing all the paperwork.The traffic through the gate was suspended until the afternoon.According to a law that came into effect on June 21, 2006, all fuel brought into the country in containers has to be taxed. Some customs officials are suspected of reaching a deal with the drivers and allowing oil to be brought into the country without tax.There were claims that the tip-off was due to drivers disagreeing with the customs officials on some issue and alerting the authorities.
Kapıkule operation:
The operation in Habur comes only a month after Edirne First Criminal Court sentenced 23 of 58 officials charged with corruption at the Kapıkule customs gate to seven years, three months and 15 days in prison, with the remainder receiving lesser sentences. The Edirne Prosecutor's Office had accused the customs officials of accepting bribes, based on evidence from hidden cameras that had recorded 5,592 instances of bribe taking.
The defendants said what they were given was not money, but the prosecutor said the customs officials verbally and physically abused people for bribes, presenting phone conversations as evidence.
The defendants accused of smuggling said the customs officials threatened them if they failed to offer bribes.
The prosecutor also said the bribes received were shared among all customs officials by the senior manager.
Experts say there has been a considerable decrease in Turkey's alcohol and cigarette imports due to the smuggling through Kapıkule.Smuggling and bribery are believed to be very common at customs gates around the country.