Some 1,200 smuggled sable furs worth TL 1.5 million ($80,000) were seized at Istanbul Airport on Thursday.

The Ministry of Commerce and Customs Enforcement teams seized the illegal items used in fur making in an operation carried out at Istanbul Airport.

According to the ministry's statement, three foreign nationals who came to Istanbul on the Moscow-Istanbul flight raised suspicion.

The suspects were stopped at a customs check in Istanbul after exiting the international terminal and were taken to the inspection platforms when suspicious objects were detected in the scan of their luggage.

An official investigation into the incident has been launched at the Gaziosmanpaşa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.