Five Ugandans Arrested at Istanbul Airport, Turkey For Drug Trafficking

Five Ugandans have been arrested by authorities in Turkey as they tried to smuggle in Codein cough syrup a drug that was banned in the European country and now they are set to face it rough.

According to info we received from the Uganda-Turkey community leaders who came out to condemn the act following the arrest of a new entrants into the country, they stated that;

“This is a warning to all Ugandans living in Turkey, last week, four of our members were arrested as they tried to smuggle Codein syrup a cough mixture drug that has been prohibited in Turkey. Those who seem wise have now resorted to pouring the syrup into jerrycans disguising it as a local herb but unfortunately they have been detected and a one innocent young man was arrested yesterday adding him on the list of those arrested last week,” said Hussein Ssemyalo the Community President.

Ssemyalo who condemned the illegal trade noted that as a community, they have commenced internal investigations with the aim of unearthing those behind this illegal trade and shall hand them over to the authorities so as to save the innocent boys who were not aware of what they were carrying.

Codeine is a derivative of opium; used as an antitussive to relieve coughing and an analgesic to relieve pain. The drug was recently banned in Nigeria upon discovering that it was exposing the population especially the youth to drug abuse once taken in excess.

Now that it was banned in Nigeria, the Nigerian drug dealers are using Ugandans to get it into Turkey since its not yet prohibited in Uganda.

Turkey has strict laws against the use, possession or trafficking of illegal drugs. If you are convicted of any of these offences, you can expect to receive a heavy fine or a prison sentence of 4 to 24 years.