Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday that Turkish authorities arrested 234 people in operations against criminal trafficking organizations in four European countries.

“We have detained 234 senior criminal organization leaders, 225 from within Turkey and nine from abroad,” Yerlikaya said.

He said in Ankara that detainees were seeking for crimes, including international drug trafficking, money laundering, homicide, kidnapping, threats and blackmail.

Yerlikaya said coordinated actions were conducted in Belgium, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Türkiye.

He said the business occupied hundreds of real estate, vehicles, company shares and bank accounts, worth a total of 13 billion lira ($341 million).

He added that the Turkish police worked with the EU’s Europol for eight months to phase out the secrets, connections and methods of the organization.