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Five more celebrities test positive for drug probe including Hande Ercel

11 April 2026 23:46 (UTC +04:00)

Actress Hande Ercel has tested positive for opioid compounds as part of Türkiye's widening celebrity narcotics investigation, with forensic results also implicating several other high-profile figures detained in the latest wave of an operation that has shaken Istanbul's entertainment world since last autumn, APA reports citing Türkiye Today.

Toxicology analysis by the Forensic Medicine Institute found morphine, codeine, and the codeine metabolite codeine glucuronide in Ercel's urine sample. Her blood and hair specimens returned negative.

The mixed result places her among a growing list of public figures whose biological samples have yielded at least partial findings as prosecutors work through what has become one of the most expansive narcotics probes in Turkish media history.

Cocaine and cannabis found in other suspects

The same round of forensic testing returned positive results for four other detainees. Singer Mustafa Ceceli tested positive for cocaine and its metabolites, benzoylecgonine and methylecgonine, in a hair sample, while his blood test came back negative.

Actor Ibrahim Celikkol's hair sample similarly showed cocaine and related metabolites. Music producer Deha Bilimlier tested positive for both codeine and cocaine compounds in hair analysis. DJ Ilkay Sencan returned positive for the cannabis metabolite THC-COOH in his blood and THC in his hair.

Hair testing is standard in forensic toxicology because it can detect substance use over a period of up to 90 days per centimeter of growth, a significantly longer window than urine or blood. Under Turkish law, a positive forensic result does not automatically constitute a criminal charge.