British police raids target Turkish crime kingpins

POLICE in London yesterday launched a massive assault on what they described as probably the biggest organised crime group in Britain.

In one of Scotland Yard’s biggest series of co-ordinated raids, around 550 officers targeted 15 addresses around the capital through the night.

They raided homes, businesses and gambling dens linked to a notorious Turkish family who are described as “kingpins” in the international heroin smuggling trade with interests in Britain, Turkey, Holland and the rest of Europe.

Gardaí here said were very familiar with the Turkish gang, which they said was an extended crime family, numbering hundreds of people.

“They control about 90% of the heroin coming in from Turkey, from Afghanistan, to London, on to Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow and into us,” said a garda source.

“Some of the people we’ve got here said they were dealing with Turks. They are the main men and give the best price and quality heroin.”

He said the British operation could have a sizeable impact on the flow of heroin into Ireland.

“If they knock the Turks out of London, although I don’t think they will, it will stem the input of heroin coming into Ireland. We’ll still be getting a certain amount in from Amsterdam.”

The family, which cannot be named for legal reasons, has been involved in a vicious escalating turf war with other Turkish and Kurdish groups in north London, which has seen 10 gang murders in the last three years.

The violence reached new heights last November when one man was killed and four were left on life support machines following a running gun battle involving 40 people.

By 7am yesterday, police had arrested 17 people for guns, drugs and immigration offences and had seized more than £20,000 in cash.

At one cafe in Wood Green, north London, officers burst into an illegal gambling den where nine people were in the middle of a game of cards.

One man attacked police with a two-foot metal kebab skewer but was overpowered.

At the cafe, officers found a Tazer stun gun, a substance believed to be cocaine and £13,000 in cash, £3,000 of which was hidden in a pool table. Commander John Yates said: “All our intelligence suggests these are very big players in terms of criminality in London and internationally.

“Our intelligence suggests they are involved in major international heroin trafficking.”

Two suspects were arrested at their home in Edgware, north London. The family at the centre of the crackdown is reputedly worth millions.

Much of the violence in the turf wars has been carried out by young second-generation Turks who revel in extortion and intimidation.

They are known as “bombacilars” which means “bomb makers”.

In July last year two gangs battled outside Wood Green police station, firing 20 shots in a busy thoroughfare at 2pm on a Friday afternoon.