Biker gang cars converted into Istanbul police fleet
A £3 MILLION fleet of exotic supercars seized from a biker gang have been converted into Turkish police cars.
The array of high-specification vehicles, totalling 21 cars, including a Ferrari and a Bentley, were confiscated from Istanbul’s branch of the Hells Angels-style Comanchero Motorcycle Club in November.
They have since been repainted in white and blue, emblazoned with the crest of the Turkish capital’s police force, and kitted out with sirens and warning lights ahead of their expected debut in the new year.
“From now on, these vehicles will be at the disposal of our police and in the service of our nation, not criminal organisations,” said Ali Yerlikaya, Turkey’s interior minister.
The cars include a 205mph Ferrari 488 GTB, a Bentley Continental GT, an electric Porsche Taycan Turbo and an Audi RS6.
They were seized after the arrest of Hakan Ayik and 36 others on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
Ayik, 44, is an Australian-born suspected drug smuggler believed to have led the local crime ring associated with the Comanchero Motorcycle Club.
The gang has roots in Australia, where it is outlawed, and south-east Asia.
Dubbed the “Facebook gangster” down under for flaunting his wealth in ostentatious displays on social media, Ayik has been on New South Wales’s most wanted list for more than a decade for the “supply of large commercial quantities of drugs”.
An Interpol notice was issued for him in 2010 after he fled the country before police could arrest him in connection with a heroin shipment uncovered at Port Botany in Sydney.
He is said to have been paying more than £500,000 a month in protection fees to corrupt Turkish officials, the Australian Daily Telegraph reported.
Ayik was also one of seven suspected criminals who unwittingly popularised the Fbi-controlled Anom messaging app among his fraternity.
More than 800 suspects were arrested in 2021 after being tricked into using the network, allowing police to monitor their chats about drug smuggling, money laundering and murder plots.