Newsdeck

Newsdeck

Turkey fines Italian 100,000 euros for truffle-smuggling

Turkey fined an Italian citizen nearly 100,000 euros for trying to illegally smuggle white truffles out of the country, authorities said Monday.

The unnamed suspect was fined 466,509 Turkish lira ($122,000) after being caught trying to take the aromatic fungus across the border to Bulgaria, the Istanbul forest region management authority said in a statement.

The authority said the truffle was worth 250 euros a kilo in some European countries and the individual had illegally collected nearly 29 kilos of it.

“After the incident, the Istanbul forest region management authority tightened protection and monitoring activities against those illegally searching for truffles,” the statement said.

Recep Ates, an Istanbul forest region official, urged locals to inform the authorities if they see foreigners walking around the area with dogs.

Dogs or specially trained pigs are used to dig truffles from the ground. DM

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.