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Two people working at Turkish diplomatic missions overseas were caught smuggling drugs and cigarettes, using diplomatic vehicles. One of them worked in Turkish Embassy in Baku, the website of the Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman reports.

According to the article, the one who worked at Turkey's embassy in Baku was apprehended by police at the Azerbaijani-Georgian border while smuggling hundreds of boxes of cigarettes. Separate investigations were launched against him by Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Today’s Zaman notes that the second one, who worked at the Turkish Consulate in Iran's city of Urmia, was apprehended on March 4, 2015 by police in one of the district of Van province, who seized a large quantity of heroin from the vehicle, which had diplomatic license plates. He was arrested and suspended by the Foreign Ministry of Turkey, which had previously launched an internal investigation into possible illegal activities by diplomatic personnel, the details of which were not released to the public.

According to the information, the Foreign Ministry of Turkey, which launched a thorough investigation into the incidents, also has concerns that diplomatic personnel who took part in illegal activities might have accomplices in other public institutions in Turkey.

The article further reads that Turkey serves as a “transit route for opium” smuggled from Afghanistan, according to The 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) prepared by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in the US State Department. It is sold in Europe after transport via Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. According to police statistics, 166,268 kilograms of cannabis were confiscated in Turkey in 2013. Police teams seized 9,843 kilograms of heroin in 2013, but the amount of heroin seized in 2014 stood at 10,000 kilograms.