Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1464183
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 APRIL 2022 10 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA TURKEY has long been a major route of heroin smuggling from Afghanistan to Europe. But a record-breaking inter- ception of 800kg of cocaine in Malta from a Turkish-bound container, continues to con- firm the country's role as a cocaine distribution hub from Colombia to Europe and the Middle East. Malta Customs and police drugs squads officers found the cocaine earlier this week, valued at €108 million, inside a 40-foot reefer container en route from the port of Turbo, in Colombia, to Mersin, in Tur- key, with a refrigerated payload of 1,200 boxes of bananas. Over 800 packets of high-pu- rity cocaine was found hidden in 26 boxes, each carrying a net weight of 1kg each and con- cealed within the boxes of fruit. Customs scanning officials flagged the discrepancy be- tween density and consistency of the banana cargo. The bust is also considera- ble one in the context of sim- ilar high-value interceptions in Turkey itself: for the Colom- bian-Turkey route's notoriety particularly stems from claims by a convicted Turkish crime boss living in exile in Dubai, who accused former Turkish ministers of being implicated in the traffic of drugs. In late 2021, anti-narcotics teams in Ankara said they un- veiled cocaine traffic between the Cali drug cartel in Colom- bia, and seven Turkish drug barons during a nine-month surveillance. "Cali cartel sent the drugs in boxes of flowers, bananas, coffee or strawber- ries, using air and sea routes," the Hurriyet newspaper said, quoting a 2021 report from Turkish investigators. Cargo planes carrying the cocaine were arriving in Turkey after stopping by in the U.S. and the Netherlands. Ships carrying the cocaine would have stopovers in Italy before arriving at the port in the southern province of Mersin. The Turkish investigators said the seven drug lords in Turkey had different roles in dealing with the cocaine: one was the "messenger" with the Cali cartel, two manage the fi- nancial leg of the operations, two others handle the ports and airports, while the rest roll out the product. But many of the high-profile investigations came months after exiled mob boss Sedat Peker's YouTube videos shook Turkey in May 2021, when he claimed that government offi- cials were involved in cocaine smuggling between Colombia, Venezuela and Turkey. In a series of viral videos from Dubai, Peker flung accusations of corruption at members and cronies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). And one of the 'accused' – former Turkish PM Binali Yildirim – has a Malta connection that brings this story just that bit closer to home: his children have operated various Malta companies for their shipping businesses. In one video watched by 10 million people in 24 hours, Peker claimed that Yildirim's son Erkam travelled to Vene- zuela in January and February 2021 to organise logistics, and readjust a busted Colombian route. Turkey's former prime minis- ter defended his son by claiming that he had traveled to Caracas to deliver COVID-19 test kits and masks, a claim refuted by both Turkish customs records and testimonies of Turkish citi- zens residing in Venezuela. Erkam and his brother Bulent Yildirim opened companies Hawke Bay Marine and Black Eagle Marine in Malta, both of them struck off since the Malta Files leak of 2017, involved in the buying and selling of ships, yachts and other marine ves- sels. Colombia-Turkey connection The spotlight turned on Tur- key in June 2020 when Colom- bia's narcotics police seized almost five tons of cocaine in two containers that were to travel by sea from the port of Buenaventura to Turkey, at a street value of $265 million. The Colombian defence min- istry officially announced that the seized cocaine was bound for Turkey. This information by itself had important impli- cations since Turkey had nev- er been a transit or destination country for cocaine. Five tonnes of cocaine was deemed an unbelievably large quantity for Turkey as a des- tination and a transit coun- try. Turkey had also never been mentioned in the UNO- DC's global cocaine traffick- ing routes until recently. Even then, the route involving Tur- key has remained small with negligible amounts of cocaine seized compared to other main routes. In February 2022, the assassi- nation of the Turkish-Cypriot casino tycoon Halil Falyali be- came the latest episode in Tur- key's underground wars over narco-trafficking and illicit fi- nance. Cartel cocaine route to Turkey likely source of record Malta drugs bust Over 800 packets of high-purity cocaine was found hidden in 26 boxes, each carrying a net weight of 1kg each and concealed within the boxes of fruit. Customs scanning officials flagged the discrepancy between density and consistency of the banana cargo (below). Photo: Customs Malta