The financial crimes unit of the İstanbul Police Department launched simultaneous operations in the three provinces against gangs engaged in human trafficking late last week. Of the 39 suspects who were detained as part of the operations, 26 were arrested yesterday by an İstanbul court.
In the İstanbul leg of the operation, teams from the İstanbul Police Department raided the police foreigners' bureau in the same building during work hours last Friday, detaining 17 people, including four high-level officers.
Four other civil servants from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security were also detained. The financial crimes unit conducted an eight-month investigation of the crime ring after receiving a tip. Police discovered that Recep D., who has a shop İstanbul’s Aksaray neighborhood, was illegally providing work and residence permits for foreigners in exchange for large amounts of money by making use of his connections in the police department and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. Police launched the operation after discovering a second, similar group under the leadership of Cuma K. and investigating their connections within the police department. A high-level police officer at the İstanbul Police Department, Zeki Karamanlılar, and a department head at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Necip Soy, were among those arrested.
The suspects are charged with membership in a criminal organization, forgery of documents and taking bribes to illegally provide work and residence permits and to assist gangs engaged in human trafficking activities. The officers detained are charged with accepting bribes in exchange for providing residence and work permits to foreigners in Turkey.
Thirteen of the 39 detained were released after giving testimony to prosecutors. Two high-level police officers from the Ankara police foreigners’ bureau and one from that of the Malatya police were also among those detained.
