Cocaine shipment from South America: They pasted Messi photos on drug packages

It was previously revealed that Abdullah Alp Üstün was the baron of the Turkish wing of a criminal gang involved in large-scale cocaine trafficking as part of the 'Cherokee' investigation launched in the Netherlands.

According to a report by Halit Turan from Sabah, significant information regarding the Turkish operations of the organization, which is among the largest international drug cartels in history, has been added to the investigation file. While it was discovered that the gang opened a jewelry store in the Grand Bazaar to move money abroad using the hawala method, it also emerged that the organization's number two, who is a fan of the mafia series The Godfather, is a fan of Messi. Photos showing the organization's number two celebrating his birthday with a Messi-themed cake, as well as the fact that they pasted Messi photos on the cocaine they shipped to the Netherlands, have been included in the investigation file.

In the work targeting the criminal organization that trades cocaine and launders proceeds from crime, initiated by the Amsterdam Regional Public Prosecutor's Office of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, 4 tons and 200 kilograms of cocaine were seized in a warehouse in the city of Antwerp, Belgium, after it was discovered that the suspects were organizing multiple international drug shipments. It was revealed that the baron of the Turkish wing of the international gang, through which fugitive baron Joseph Johannes Leijdekkers shipped drugs between South America and Europe, was Abdullah Alp Üstün.

JEWELRY STORE AND LUXURY RESIDENCES IN THE GRAND BAZAAR

Important information regarding how the network managed the money traffic in international drug shipments has also been included in the investigation file. In the report prepared by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) regarding the value obtained from crime, it was determined that Joseph Johannes Leijdekkers, Abdullah Alp Üstün, and Naci Yılmaz acted together in laundering the income they obtained from international drug or stimulant trafficking, and that there was a significant increase in their own and their relatives' banking transactions and assets that was inconsistent with the ordinary flow of life. The assets of the suspects identified within the scope of the file were seized. It was determined that the suspects brought the income they obtained from crime from the countries they were in to Turkey in the form of cash or gold, that they preferred the Hawala system instead of using the legal banking system to avoid leaving any financial trail while doing so, that they moved their assets in Turkey abroad using the same method, that they opened a jewelry store in the Grand Bazaar to make Hawala easier, that they traded in luxury cars, that they effectively owned luxury car dealerships under this guise, that they established companies operating in various fields, that they purchased luxury residences in the most prestigious parts of Istanbul, that they tried to acquire Turkish citizenship through these residences for foreign suspects, that they purchased high-value watches, pens, and jewelry, and that they tried to introduce their assets into the banking system by keeping cash and gold in banks and safe deposit boxes.