A whistleblower who had long overseen an organized crime syndicate in Turkey’s capital city of Ankara has revealed how police officers from the narcotics and organized crime units were engaged in the sale and distribution of cocaine, with the full awareness of the government.
Erhan Gündüz, a 38-year-old convicted felon who had led an organized crime syndicate before being imprisoned on extortion charges, made the decision to divulge everything he knew about drug and arms trafficking and to identify his former partners.
In a confidential statement provided to the police at a prison in Karabük on November 1, 2023, Gündüz revealed how a cocaine distribution center had operated right under the nose of the special police unit tasked with combating narcotics crimes. He disclosed the identities of individuals in the police force who had aided in facilitating the drug trafficking network. In exchange for this information, he requested protection and transfer to a secure prison, citing threats from his former associates.
According to whistleblower Gündüz, Bora Kaplan (also known as Ayhan with his assumed name), a detained drug trafficker who owns multiple entertainment venues in Ankara, operated with impunity for years with protection provided by then-interior minister Süleyman Soylu. He had multiple police officers on his payroll, with the key figure being then-police chief Necati Çevik, who served as head of the organized crime unit in the Ankara Police Department in 2016 and facilitated Kaplan’s contacts with the police.
The police chief and drug trafficker Kaplan frequently made trips to Istanbul to transport cocaine to Ankara. The whistleblower, who had known Kaplan since childhood and had worked with him, stated that he personally accompanied the two on three such trips, each involving the transport of 10 kilos of cocaine. During one of these trips, the car loaded with cocaine was stopped at a police checkpoint on the way out of Istanbul. However, they were allowed to proceed after police chief Çevik identified himself to the officers who had stopped the car.
The whistleblower said he had videotaped Kaplan and the police chief exchanging a yellow envelope that contained cash during a lunch meeting. He handed the photos and videos he had recorded on his iPhone over to the police through his lawyer as evidence to support his allegations. However, no criminal investigation has been initiated against police chief Çevik regarding these claims, implying that he may have had the protection of members of senior leadership who were aware of his actions. Çevik was later reassigned to another post but remained in the police force.