MOENCHENGLADBACH, Germany, Jan 28 (AFP) - A high-ranking Turkish police officer suspected of having smuggled almost eight kilos (17 pounds) of heroin has been arrested here, police and judicial sources said Friday.
They said the 36-year-old man had taken advantage of his official status, which allowed him to enter the country without showing a visa or having to be searched at the airport.
In Ankara, the official was identified as a senior Turkish policeman, Isa Taspinar.
Police spokesman Ramazan Er said Taspinar was among a group of four suspected drug-traffickers who were caught red-handed in Germany with 8.5 kilogrammes (18.7 pounds) of heroin on January 13, the Anatolia news agency reported.
The operation was the result of coordinated action between the Turkish and German police, Er was quoted as saying, without disclosing other details.
In a joint statement, German police and the prosecutor's office said the arrested man had smuggled the drug, which was taped around his stomach and legs, via Amsterdam and Duesseldorf.
The statement said the drug, estimated to have a street value of 200,000 euros (260,000 dollars), was to have been distributed in the Rhine-Ruhr region of western Germany.
It said the man was placed in custody along with three Turkish brothers, aged 28, 34 and 40 -- all of them asylum seekers living with their families in Germany.
According to the statement, most of the drug was recovered, wrapped in plastic sacks at the home of the oldest brother, who lives with his six children. Police also seized 11,000 euros, it said.
01/28/2005 18:27 GMT - AFP