U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

The irregular migrant operations spearheaded by the Interior Ministry in Istanbul have gained significant traction, resulting in the detention and deportation of more than 10,000 illegal immigrants in the last 20 days.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya revealed last week that 15,791 illegal and irregular migrants were apprehended across Türkiye in the past month.

A total of 21 migrant smugglers have been apprehended during separate operations conducted in the Central Anatolian province of Kırklareli and the southern province of Muğla, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has informed.

With the intensifying efforts to combat illegal migration in Istanbul, security forces have apprehended more than 3,500 individuals in the last six days, while foreigners who live registered in the city stated that they were satisfied with the inspections, local media has reported.

Istanbul police have reported the detection of over 500 more illegal migrants following intensified inspections that began last week.

10 people were detained for illegal migrant trafficking during the specialized operation against illegal migration from today, BNT reported. 9 of them were detained by "Border Police", the tenth - by the Metropolitan Directorate of Internal Affairs.

A 53-year-old woman who conned migrants and others by posing as a lawyer or accountant with connections in the civil service has been taken into custody on a pending arrest warrant.

According to a police announcement on Tuesday, she was tracked down in Athens on Monday and will be sent to jail where she is to serve a sentence of eight years.

Law enforcement officials are investigating the circumstances of the accident

A former Turkish banking executive who was released earlier on July 19 from a federal prison has been transferred to a U.S. immigration detention center for deportation, according to officials.

Agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have raided a Turkish cargo ship in New Jersey, arresting the ship's first officer and chief engineer on human smuggling claims. 

First officer Özcan Köse, 36, and his brother Oğuz Köse, 35, will be tried in Pennsylvania after having been accused of taking 25,000 dollars each to engage in human smuggling.