ANKARA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities seized nearly 2 million narcotic pills and a large quantity of chemical substances used in pill production in simultaneous operations across three major cities, Izmir, Ankara, and Istanbul, the country's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Friday.

Authorities confiscated 1,913,000 narcotic pills and 426 kg of chemicals, enough to manufacture approximately 2 million additional pills, Yerlikaya said on social media platform X, without specifying the timeframe of the operations.

Six suspects were detained during the raids, he added.

The operations were conducted by the narcotics and intelligence branches of the General Directorate of Security, coordinated by the Anti-Narcotics Directorate and carried out in collaboration with the three cities' police departments.

Türkiye, used by illegal drug dealers as a transit hub to European markets, has stepped up its efforts to combat drug use and trafficking. Heightened border inspections and nationwide crackdowns have resulted in significant seizures and the arrest of a large number of suspects. Enditem