The Turkish police is making the best use of resources it has confiscated from crime organisations. According to the country’s interior ministry, as many as 23 luxury cars seized by Istanbul police have been converted to traffic police vehicles to maintain the law and order situation.
The vehicles were given to Istanbul police in line with a court order. The vehicles converted for police use include a Bentley, a Porsche and a Volvo that have been painted white and blue with ‘traffic police’ written on them. It is estimated the new police cars have a market value of more than $5 million.
Drug trafficker Hakan Ayik arrested
According to the Daily Telegraph, the exotic cars seized belong to one of the world’s alleged biggest drug traffickers and ex-Sydney bikie Hakan Ayik who was arrested alongside his 36 other aides in Istanbul last month,
“We will not forgive organised criminal organisations..we will dismantle organised criminal organisations of any size and bring them to justice,” said Ali Yerlikaya, Turkey’s interior minister on X (formerly known as Twitter) after the arrest.
“The criminal organisation continued its activities under the management of Mark Douglas Buddle. The so-called leader of the organisation…was captured in 2022 and handed over to Australian authorities.”
Notably, Ayik had been running his drug criminal enterprise in Turkey after fleeing Australia in 2010 before the New South Wales (NSW) police could arrest him for his alleged involvement in a massive heroin shipment uncovered at Port Botany.
Ayik’s fortune is estimated to be worth around $1 billion. He had been running his business rather openly with reports claiming that he was paying over $1 million a month as protection money to corrupt government and military officials.
Ayik’s criminal credentials could be established from the fact that in 2021, he was among 17 people across the globe to be charged in an FBI indictment in the US for violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act.
(With inputs from agencies)
