Police crack down on 2 gangs, nab over 70 suspects

ISTANBUL

Security forces dismantled two organized crime groups in the capital Ankara and Istanbul, resulting in the apprehension of more than 70 suspects, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has announced.

According to Yerlikaya's announcement on March 1 on X, 26 suspects affiliated with the "Pekmezler" gang involved in drug and arms trafficking in the capital were captured, along with ringleaders of the organization.

On the same day, another operation was conducted in Istanbul, targeting the "Çirkinler" gang, whose leader had previously fled abroad, the minister said.

The operations resulted in the detention of 47 suspected members of the organized crime group. Yerlikaya reported that the gang was responsible for three murder incidents in Istanbul.

"As a result of the operations, 13 unlicensed pistols, five automatic pistols, seven bulletproof vests, a considerable amount of narcotics and numerous magazines and cartridges were seized," Yerlikaya stated.

Delivering a speech in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district on Feb. 29, Yerlikaya noted that since he took office last June, the crime rate had significantly decreased, and the police's rate of solving cases has also risen.

Noting that their first duty is to prevent crime and their second duty is to catch and bring to justice as soon as possible if a crime has been committed, he said.

"In our 9-month period, incidents of crimes against property and persons are rapidly decreasing. Our illumination rates of existing incidents are always going upwards."

Comparing the daily average of house burglaries in the January-February period, which was 160 nationwide last year, Yerlikaya informed that it had decreased to 101 occurances this year. He expressed that law enforcement is in fight with various types of thefts, “demonstrating their proactive approach in tackling crime.”