Crackdown nets imprisoned mob boss's men
DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL
Published
17 hours ago
Police launched simultaneous operations yesterday in seven cities and detained 53 suspects linked to Alattin Çakıcı, a jailed mob boss who rose to fame in the late 1980s.

The suspects, including a policeman and two lawyers, are accused of operating the gang under secret orders from Çakıcı who is jailed in a prison in central Turkey.

Early Thursday morning, organized crime police raided several locations in Istanbul, Ankara, the southern city of Antalya, the central city of Kırıkkale where Çakıcı is imprisoned, the northwestern city of Bursa, the northern city of Tokat and the southeastern city of Mardin. The manhunt is underway for 20 other suspects.

Police also found 12 pistols, two shotguns and munitions in the possession of suspects. Ejder K., a suspect captured in Antalya, is accused of leading a gang loyal to Çakıcı in this Mediterranean city.

Authorities accuse the suspects of an armed attack at an Istanbul hospital where doctors allegedly refused to treat Çakıcı, a shooting that targeted an official in another hospital in the northern city of Bolu where Çakıcı was briefly imprisoned and breaking the legs of the deputy warden of the prison where the mob boss is currently held. They are also accused of shooting former gang members in the leg - mafia-style - of those that split from the gang and sharing videos of the shootings online. They are also charged with extortion.

Çakıcı made a name for himself in the Turkish underworld in the late 1980s, and his name was associated with shootings and beatings. In 1995, he was indicted in the killing of his former wife and fled abroad. Çakıcı was captured in France, extradited to Turkey in 1998 and released from prison in 2002. He was indicted in another case in 2004 and was extradited from Austria, where he fled. Since then, he has remained imprisoned for various crimes.

https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/2018/03/23/crackdown-nets-imprisoned-mob-bosss-men

10 Most Notorious Mobsters of Istanbul

https://www.weloveist.com/10-notorious-mobsters-istanbul

The 'Ndrangheta works with them in particular in Germany. I remember Antonio Barbaro was arrested with five Turks and 21 kilos heroin.

MHP leader Bahçeli visits notorious mafia leader Çakıcı in hospital

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/mh...s-mafia-leader-cakici-in-hospital-132279

Turkish OC is far more widespread than people realize. I know they run A LOT of the underground operations in Rochester, which used to be a huge LCN town. Turkish groups are taking over in North America.

They are heavy in London and Glasgow too

Really ? That seems very strange to me since I've never read about Turkish organized crime groups operating in the US . I suppose they are very careful in the way they conduct business , but it's still strange that I've never read about busts involving Turkish gangsters in the US .

What sort of rackets are they into in Rochester by the way ?

Turkish Americans live in all fifty states, although the largest concentrations are found in New York City and Rochester.

Oh absolutely. You'd be surprised but like Hollander said, there are a lot of 1st and 2nd generation Turkish immigrants living in New York State, specifically NYC and Rochester. There was a large conviction in Rochester a few years ago that broke up a long operating organized crime ring that was originally was set up decades ago. This local Turkish mob group was headed by one Ersin Yaman, known on the streets as "Mike the Turk." He has connections to the now defunct Rochester Crime Famiy of La Cosa Nostra. A big player in the modern OC era. Anyway, the Feds busted his organized crime ring which was funded primarily by stolen credit cards and stolen goods out of various pawn shops in Rochester. They handed out a string of indictments with about 55 different charges including burglary, grand larceny, forgery, drug possession, possession of stolen property, intimidating a victim/witness and the first ever charge of enterprise corruption in county history against multiple guys. Two other Turks in the gang arrested were Vedat Kıraç and Muhittin Akyüz. Another Ismael "Junior" Cruz served as Yaman's second in command. Evidently, they were making in excess of $25 million. I understand that other Turkish mafia operations still exist in the city. I don't want to say too much because honestly I don't know anything for certain, but hearsay says there are other underground activities the Turks control and a heavy flow of money they're taking huge pieces of. I suspect much of it involves dirty money and several business in the area are known to be fronts for Turkish mafia operations.

I know other similar cases have been busted in Long Island (specifically Suffolk County) involving Turkish OC and stolen credit cards, extortion, illegal gambling and drugs. There was a case in which credit card information was stolen from gas station pumps in the NYC metro area and a few million ended up in offshore accounts. Another scheme involved bloating the credit limits of students and sending the money back to Bursa, Turkey. They're pretty heavy into heroin trafficking too and I believe much of that goes through the NY/NJ seaport.

That's rather interesting stuff . I honestly would have never figured that Turkish organized crime groups exist in the US .


For what it's worth can it be said that Turkish and Albanian crime groups are much more active in the US than their ( Slavic ) Balkan counterparts ? I know there have been a few cases of presumably Bulgarian OC connected individuals trafficking ecstasy and cocaine in the States and so called " YACS " groups are also supposed to be active in the field of theft/fencing , however proper Balkan Slavic OC in the US definitely seems to be marginal compared to its Albanian and Turkish counterpart .

Turkish mafia boss calls for killing of opposition journalists from jail

https://ahvalnews.com/alaattin-cakici/turkish-mafia-boss-calls-killing-opposition-journalists-jail#

He's affiliated with the far-right Grey Wolves.

In an anti crime operation in Turkey police arrested 35 people. The focus was on groups such as "Sarallar" and "Besok". But also members of the Hells Angels, including Neco Arabaci. Neco is said to be the most powerful biker in Europe. He wanted power throughout Europe.

Istanbul murder linked to mafia feud
DAILY SABAH WITH AGENCIES
ISTANBUL
Published
09.04.2019
00:03
The brother of a suspected mobster standing trial for the murder of an alleged drug baron's daughter, was killed in Istanbul's upscale BaÄŸdat Avenue late Sunday. The killing of Ä°lhan ÃœnÄŸan is the latest in a series of murders from Istanbul to Dubai, all linked to the same two groups engaged in a feud.

İlhan Ünğan was shot dead by a gunman as he was approaching his car where his family was waiting for him. The gunman fled the scene while police launched an investigation into the murder. Ünğan was a wanted suspect in a 2014 case related to murders of Arzu Sharifi Zindaşti and her chauffeur Devrim Öztunç. Zindaşti, daughter of Iranian-born tycoon Naci Şerifi Zindaşti, and Öztunç were shot dead in Istanbul's Büyükçekmece district. İlhan Ünğan's brother Orhan, who remains in custody for the murders, was accused of ordering the hit on Zindaşti.

Media outlets reported that the killing of Ünğan may be connected to Naci Şerifi Zindaşti, who went missing after he was controversially released following his capture in a crackdown on organized crime last year. Zindaşti was also linked to the Dubai murder of Çetin Koç, an alleged drug baron who tipped off police about the former's drug shipment. Koç had also alleged ties with Orhan Ünğan whose lawyer Kudbettin Kaya was shot dead in Istanbul in 2017, days before he told a court trying Ünğan brothers that he might "be killed" because of the trial. Orhan Ünğan told the court himself that his rivals "plotted to kill him or his brother" and has appealed for protection.

Sahinler vs. Saraller?

TKJ great article I wonder how Ali Akgun murder fits in all of this.

Murder of mafia-linked man may reveal relations between state and organized criminals – Journalist

https://www.google.com/amp/s/ipa.ne...ate-and-organized-criminals-journalist//

Zindashti (his Turkified name is Naci Serifi) and Cetin Koc were apparently Kurds originally from the Urmia region in Iran. This seems to be more of a Kurdish feud related to the Southeast Anatolia groups.

I think the Ali Akgun hit is more connected to the feud between the Turkish groups from the Black Sea region.

After he was killed and also Vedat Sahin who had links to Rotterdam, there was also a theory of a war between the Kurdish mafia and the Black Sea mafia.

Personally I think it has more to do with the war between two of the main Black Sea groups; the Sahin-clan and the Saral-clan.
The Kurdish groups - who gained prominence after they started cracking down on the Black Sea mafia - got hit badly in the Netherlands by LE. It's the Black Sea mafia that has been rebuilding now the Southeast Anatolian Kurdish mafia is lying low. When it comes to Turkish OC, the Kurdish clans still got all the power in North London though.

Turks and Albanians all over London and very serious

In London the Turkish OC seems to be more of a Kurdish thing. Going by the name alone you wouldn't be able to tell the difference since all of the Kurds from Turkey have Turkified first names and surnames.
Both Turkish/Kurdish OC and Albanian OC are serious business.

In London mainly Kurdish, Zaza and Turkish Cypriot crime groups.

Also don´t forget the Deep State and Gladio, it´s all about politics in Turkey.

True seen it first hand. Quick to kill. Remember years ago I was in college in north ldn area as a teen and close by a young dad was shot dead in his Range Rover by a hitman on a bike. His kid was in the car too. Happens all the time. They get young black kids to do hits for them too - Turks/Kurds. To the outsider they all get classes as Turks (not that I condone it). My barbers a Kurd funnily enough where I live now.

Albanians are rough, guns, drugs all over ldn and uk big cities. There’s always a sh*tload of them too. Never got involved with them as a kid but some mates did as they could get cheap quality stuff etc. They love a car “wash” too haha - pun intended

With Turks it's heroin and weapons, In the 90s knew some serious people always carrying a gun lol.

Turks, Turkish Kurds and Albanians are all quick to pull the trigger. Weirdly enough at the same time they're also all pretty easy to get along with. If you don't get on their bad side of course lol. Many got a short fuse and a HUGE sense of honor.

There's less Kurds and Albanians over where I live - though both have a noticeable population here - but a pretty big Turkish community. I hung out with plenty of Turks. There's quite a few from the Black Sea region over here as well. They're often described by the other Turks as "Laz" but the pure Laz are mostly extinct and they're probably the proudest Turks around. They wildly vary in looks as well: many look Greek, some look slightly Central Asian and it's not uncommon for one to have blonde or even ginger hair. It's a bit of a stereotype, even in Turkey itself, but the Black Sea Turks can be crazy as hell and a disproportionate number of them got OC connections through their family. Many times they got an uncle, a cousin or even a father whose up to his neck in the business. The father of one guy that I went to school with when I was younger got shot and there's another one whose father was implicated in a local underworld murder before he fled to Trabzon. Then another guy got shot in his knee three times by his own cousin.

In another town that's closer to the Dutch Brabant border there was a Turkish-Kurdish family. One of my mates was pretty close with one of the sons from that family. They were nothing to mess with. I remember my mate getting a block of hashish for free for his birthday from him. He was always carrying a gun and sometimes he got picked up by a few other Kurds in a Mercedes to "go somewhere to take care of some business". All of the sudden the entire family disappeared and moved somewhere to Holland lol.

Yes TKJ, they like guns as much as the Antilleans lol..

The King of Heroin: Profile of drug boss Sadullah Unnu, who flooded Europe with dope http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profil...e-of-drug-boss-sadullah-unnu-who-flooded

Police launch massive operation, seize crime boss in Istanbul
DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL
Published
27.11.2019

Turkish security forces on Wednesday detained 20 suspects with links to an organized crime ring engaged in armed conflicts with other gangs, along with the ringleader during simultaneous operations in Istanbul and two other provinces, following years of investigating the organization's activities.

The Istanbul police's anti-organized crime units conducted simultaneous operations against the gang, known as "Sarallar" ("The Sarals," after the family name of the group's leader).

Burhanettin Saral and 20 other gang members were detained. Police also seized weapons and ammunition in raids on their properties. The gang had involved in long-time conflicts with other gangs, namely the "Åžahinler" according to investigations, and have been behind the deaths of a number of individuals.

Over the course of the 2000s, some 5,000 people have been detained in connection with the Sarallar and Åžahinler gangs but some, including Burhanettin Saral, were later released.

https://www.dailysabah.com/investig...e-operation-seize-crime-boss-in-istanbul

Sarallar are possibly one of Europe's largest criminal organizations. More than a thousand members in the Trabzon region alone as well as lots in the "Laz" (Black Sea Turkish) diaspora in Istanbul and several Central Anatolian cities.

Alaattin Cakici released !!

https://middle-east-online.com/en/turkey-releases-mob-boss-keeps-government-critics-prison

U.S. expert examines meaning behind release of top Turkish Mafia boss

https://ahvalnews.com/legal-amnesty/us-expert-examines-meaning-behind-release-top-turkish-mafia-boss

Police in Turkey arrested fugitve drug lord Cetin Gören today in what that country's minister of the interior, Süleyman Soylu, called "the most important anti-narcotics operation in the history of Turkey". Over 60 people were arrested, including Gören, who had been a fugitive for several years. Read his profile: http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/profile-turkish-drug-boss-cetin-goren

Turkey takes Dutch coke baron as prime suspect in mega-investigation
In Turkey the convicted Rotterdam drug boss Cetin G. was arrested in a very extensive drug investigation. This includes a shipment of 4.9 tons of cocaine seized in Colombia early this month.
G. was a fugitive since 2016. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a very large cocaine shipment.

Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu spoke of "the largest operation in the history of the republic when it comes to combating drug trafficking."
An arrest warrant was issued for 94 people. 67 were arrested. Raids have been carried out or people have been arrested in nine countries, besides Turkey in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Chile, Ecuador and Brazil. So far, 70 million liras (about 9 million euros) in money and assets have been seized.

G. is the main suspect in the investigation, other Turkish drug traffickers with big names were also arrested. Police actions in Turkey were still in progress on Tuesday morning.

Cetin G. will now first be tried in Turkey. It remains to be seen whether he will ever end up in prison in the Netherlands.

Cetin Goren was involved in a batch of 8000 kilos that was smuggled from Ecuador. The cargo was intercepted in Antwerp in October 2012. His partner Samir 'Scarface' Bouyakhrichan was shot dead in 2014 in Marbella. Other investors were said to be Italians from Limburg.

Turkish mob boss Alaattin Çakıcı, former interior minister and police chief Mehmet Ağar, former general Engin Alan and former colonel Korkut Eken have met in Muğla’s resort town of Bodrum amid criticism that Turkey has been relapsing into the mindset of the 1990s, Turkish media reported on Friday.

The meeting made the news after a photo of the four — some of the shadiest figures in recent Turkish history — was shared on social media by Üzeyir Çakmaktaş, known to be close to Çakıcı.

https://www.yerepouni-news.com/2020...y-war-against-kurds-meet-in-resort-town/

Turkish police crack down on mafia in nationwide operations

https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/i...k-down-on-mafia-in-nationwide-operations

Exiled Turkish mafia boss Sedat Peker makes new corruption claims
Presidential advisers are implicated in an alleged bribery ring targeting business figures.


Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/original...akes-new-corruption-claims#ixzz7jZqLpYsr

A Turkish organised crime gang until recently headed by a late North Cypriot casino and hotel boss wanted in the US for money laundering and drug trafficking, has reportedly been laundering the proceeds of illegal gambling through a Malta cryptocurrency exchange.

Some $30 million in cryptocurrency in Malta that belonged to the murdered Turkish crime boss, Halil Falyal?, who was assassinated last February in North Cyprus, has been seized by Turkish authorities as part of an investigation into an illegal gambling ring, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

https://theshiftnews.com/2022/11/04/turkish-organised-crime-gang-hid-30m-in-malta-crypto-accounts/

In Spain, crime boss Atilla Ö (57), also known to the Dutch judiciary, was arrested on Monday. the Turkish Interior Minister reported on Twitter. The arrest was made at the request of the Turkish authorities.

O. is suspected of membership of a criminal organization, large-scale drug trafficking and possession of weapons. Turkey will ask Spain for extradition. O. settled in Spain. A tip had come in about his whereabouts.

The Dutch Turk was released in Turkey in 2014 due to a change in the law. He had been detained in Istanbul since 2007 because he was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for murder and drug trafficking in the so-called Besiktas affair.

O. had interests in various coffee shops in Amsterdam and was one of the founders of the party location The Sand in Amsterdam-West, but is no longer involved.

O. was a close acquaintance of Kees Houtman, hash dealer and real estate dealer who was murdered in 2005. According to key witness Peter La S., Ö. was on a death list of Dino Soerel and Ali Akgün. The latter was shot dead in Istanbul in December 2014.

In Turkey, one of the most wanted drug lords Urfi Çetinkaya was arrested on Tuesday evening. He was arrested in a villa in Istanbul-Sar?yer, north of the center, five others were also arrested. Çetinkaya's arrest was a national priority for the Turkish government. This is evident because at the national level there was cooperation between the Anti-Narcotics Department and the police in Istanbul, led by the powerful Directorate General of Security in Ankara.
He was sentenced to 24 years in prison for involvement in heroin and cocaine shipments between 2003 and 2013. There is also an ongoing investigation in which his brother and cousin were already arrested in May last year.
Çetinkaya is of Turkish-Kurdish descent, his age can only be guessed at.
He has been in a wheelchair since 1988. That is the result of a shooting by the police when he ignored a police stop sign in the car on May 18, 1988. He spent several years in prison but slowly worked his way to a top position in the Turkish underworld, especially after he was released.
He has sometimes been called 'the most powerful man in Turkey' after President Erdogan, but whether that was the case is doubtful. For some time he lived in a veritable palace in Istanbul, but at a certain point he felt compelled to go into hiding and emigrate. He would have stayed in Dubai, among other places.

'Turkish godfather involved in Hamburg's cocaine record'
February 20, 2024

A whole series of suspects have been arrested in various places in Turkey who are said to be part of the criminal organization of the Turkish "godfather" Ürfi Çetinkaya, who has been in prison since April last year , the Turkish police report. The organization is said to have been involved in the transport of 13 tons of cocaine that was caught in Hamburg in 2021.

Rüstem Çetinkaya
Turkish media write that 42 suspects have been arrested, including Rüstem and Hakan Çetinkaya and a man identified as HYN. There was an arrest warrant against the latter from the United States.

The investigation was led by the chief prosecutor in Istanbul and the Anti-Drug Directorate of the Directorate General of Security, the national department that fights organized crime in Turkey.

There were raids in Izmir, Afyonkarahisar, Malatya, Antalya, Çanakkale, Bilecik, Mu?la and Istanbul.

Wheelchair
The leader of the criminal organization that the Turkish justice department has in mind is Ürfi Cetinkaya, who can only move in a wheelchair. He was arrested last year because he still had to serve an old sentence.

He is again suspected of international drug trafficking, founding an armed organization with the aim of committing a crime and money laundering. His son Rüstem sees the Turkish judiciary as his successor.

Record in Hamburg
The network is said to have shipped 37 tons of cocaine to Germany, Bulgaria, Spain, Mauritania, Portugal and Greece, among others.

According to Turkish justice, the record catch of 13 tons in Hamburg several years ago can also be attributed to a transport of the suspects. At the beginning of February, a German-Iranian man, Pouya Mohmini, was arrested in Colombia for this .

Hawala
Drug profits collected by the criminal organization in other European countries went to Turkey through underground banking from Hawala networks.

The investigation into the drug shipments of the Çetinkaya family took two years.