Arrests in Turkey of Hakan Ayik, Hasan Topal and 35 others proves fugitives have nowhere to hide, Australian police say
Arrests in Turkey of Hakan Ayik, Hasan Topal and 35 others proves fugitives have nowhere to hide, Australian police say, as global underworld reels from shock arrests.
The arrests of 37 alleged fugitive gangsters in Turkey, including at least eight Australians, has dealt a heavy blow to organised crime gangs responsible for some of the largest drug trafficking operations in the world, police say.
Australia’s most wanted man Hakan Ayik, his former Sydney associates Erkan Dogan, Baris Tukel and Jimmy Awaijan, and Melbourne model-turned bikie boss Hasan Topal were all arrested by heavily-armed police in dawn raids across Istanbul on Thursday.
Ayik’s friend and associate Hakan “Little Hux’’ Arif and Arif’s wife Sibel were also arrested in a shock move that has rattled the criminal underworld and proved the group, who was hiding in plain sight in Turkey for years, was not untouchable after all.
The group, who had been living it up at resorts in Turkey, photographed on yachts, and were known to frequent high-end restaurants and bars, were all captured by Turkish National Police and anti-narcotics officers who handcuffed them and paraded them in a slick video.
Australian Federal Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Crime Grant Nicholls said a number of those arrested were wanted not just by the AFP but by law enforcement agencies across the globe.
Four of the men are considered highly valuable targets by the AFP – Ayik and Arif, who are wanted over alleged drug smuggling operations, Topal, who is wanted for questioning on two murders in Melbourne, and another associate of Ayik’s, Duax Ngakuru, who was arrested by Turkish authorities in January.
“Some of these individuals have Australian links and are alleged to be global threats – serious organised criminals who are accused of being behind some of the biggest illicit drug shipments throughout the world,’’ Mr Nicholls said.
“We allege these men have extensive connections to the Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang and the Alameddine organised crime family in Australia.
“We allege they have an extensive network of criminal associates, located in countries ranging from Colombia, The Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, New Zealand, Lebanon. We allege two of the men arrested can source or move illegal shipments of drugs anywhere in the world.
“We conservatively estimate that between 10-15 tonnes of border controlled drugs destined for Australia can be attributed to some of these men.
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“We allege some of those arrested yesterday are the masterminds of misery – and we allege they are in part responsible for a significant proportion of addiction, deaths from drug abuse and violence in many communities.’’
The arrests came after years of co-operation between the Turkish police and the AFP, and two years after Operation Ironside, the so-called sting of the century that revealed the secret encrypted app named AN0M, used by the criminal underworld to organise drug smuggling and other crimes was in fact being monitored and copied by the AFP and the FBI.
The Operation Ironside take-down has led to 392 people in Australia being arrested with another 700 worldwide, and blown crime gangs in Australia wide apart.
Ayik, who was a key promoter of the AN0M app, is one of a number of people indicted by the FBI for his involvement in promoting and distributing it, along with Dogan and Tukel.
The arrests of the men is a major coup for the AFP, which has been systematically working through Operation Gain to capture valuable targets hiding overseas. The operation, established in 2020, has captured more than half its 20-plus targets.
In the past two years, a man dubbed the Asian El Chapo, Tse Chi Lop, was arrested in The Netherlands and extradited to Australia, along with his lieutenant, Lee Chung Chak, who was extradited from Thailand.
Alleged bikie boss and drug smuggler Mark Buddle was deported from Turkey and returned to Australia last December, as was alleged terrorist Neil Christopher Prakash, and another alleged drug smuggler, Tony Haddad, from Sydney. Turkey has also arrested alleged Australian fugitive Masood Zakaria.
“Over previous years, some of these individuals fled Australia because they wanted to evade the AFP or other local authorities. They believed they were untouchable. They believed they were too big and too rich to ever face justice,’’ Mr Nicholls said.
“That is one of the biggest mistakes organised crime is making.’’
A number of the men are expected to appear in Turkish courts in coming days.
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