Baby nappies bulging with cash seized at Turkish airport

Bulging baby nappies don't usually contain anything pleasant but the ones seized at Antalya airport off a passenger from Paris were stuffed with a different sort of surprise: 380,000 euros in cash.

Turkish customs officials found neat bundles of euros, amounting to around $440,000, carefully packed into at least six pull-up nappies inside a small carry-on suitcase, the trade ministry said in a statement published by Turkish media.

"A total of 381,750 euros in cash was seized, hidden inside baby nappies in the luggage of a passenger who arrived in Antalya from Paris," the ministry said, without revealing the passenger's nationality.

The public prosecutor's office in the southern resort city has opened an investigation, it said.

Although there is no limit on the amount of cash passengers can bring into Turkey, it is a legal obligation to declare it at customs upon entry if it amounts to 10,000 euros or more.

The Turkish lira has been under sustained pressure from high inflation, which has remained above 30 percent since December 2021, making life increasingly more expensive for millions of people.