Istanbul, Jan 15 The death toll from bootleg alcohol in Turkey's Istanbul has risen to 19 in the past two days, up from 11 earlier with 43 people still hospitalised as of Wednesday, according to Turkish broadcaster NTV.
A total of 65 people have sought medical treatment for suspected alcohol poisoning, NTV added.
Istanbul Governor Davut Gul announced on social media platform X, that authorities had shut down 63 businesses suspected of selling illicit alcohol, revoking their licenses. Gul added that officials are working to identify and prosecute those responsible for the fatalities.
The Istanbul governor's office reported on Tuesday that 48 people died from alcohol poisoning in 2024. In response, the city has pledged to implement stricter measures to combat the sale and consumption of illegal or counterfeit alcohol, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier on January 9, a total of 46 suspects were detained in nationwide operations across Turkey targeting counterfeit alcohol producers, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.
The operation, dubbed 'Hook-16', was conducted by gendarmerie teams who raided four illegal alcohol factories involved in smuggling and producing fake alcoholic beverages, Yerlikaya said on the social media platform X, without specifying the time frame of the operation.
The authorities seized a total of 50,105 litres of counterfeit and ethyl alcohol, along with 4,000 counterfeit tax stamps during the operations, he said.
With the price of legitimate alcoholic beverages remaining high, bootleg alcohol had thrived in Turkey, creating an opportunity for criminal groups to profit by smuggling illicit drinks. These illegal producers often turned to cheaper and more dangerous substances, which had contributed to a rising death toll from counterfeit alcohol consumption in recent years.
Last month, the Istanbul Governor's Office revealed that since the beginning of November, 37 people had died from poisoning due to consuming counterfeit alcohol in the city.
"In the investigations related to alcohol poisoning incidents, proceedings were initiated against 36 suspects who had provided counterfeit alcohol," the office said, adding that 14 of the suspects had been arrested.
The Anti-Smuggling and Organised Crime Branch of the Istanbul Police Department had been cracking down on the production and sale of counterfeit alcohol. The police had confiscated significant amounts of fake alcoholic drinks, as well as banderoles, labels, and other materials used for producing counterfeit alcohol.
As a result, more than two dozen businesses had received fines for participating in the illegal production and sale of these counterfeit products.
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