The Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday that a new “narcoterrorism” operation was launched in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, which was the scene of another massive drug sweep on Tuesday.

The operation has so far netted four suspects and more than 1.7 million cannabis plants, along with a small amount of hashish and a chemical substance used in drug production. The ministry said the operation aimed to cut off financial resources for the PKK terrorist group, which benefits from drug smuggling and trade in the region. In the operation, security forces also found a cache of materials used in explosive production.

Authorities also shared more details about “Operation Wipeout” on Tuesday, which netted dozens of suspects in Diyarbakır and 10 other provinces. The number of suspects detained in operations against drug barons has risen to 234, according to an official statement by police in Diyarbakır. The police also put the material seized in operations on display, including heroin, cocaine and various synthetic drugs. The operation led to the arrests of both drug lords and drug dealers working for them in Diyarbakır and other provinces. Authorities said the target was a criminal network that brought synthetic drugs smuggled from Iran into the eastern province of Van to Diyarbakır and other provinces. Apart from smuggling, the suspects were engaged in drug production of their own, shipping the drugs they produced to cities in the west./aa