Hüseyin Baybaşin | |
---|---|
![]() Baybaşin in 2022 | |
Born | 25 December 1956
Lice,
Diyarbakır, Turkey | (age 67)
Other names | Europe's Escobar |
Citizenship | ![]() ![]() |
Criminal status | In prison |
Children | 4 |
Conviction(s) | |
Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment |
Hüseyin Baybaşin (born 25 December 1956) is a Kurdish drug lord and organized crime boss. He is currently serving a life sentence in the Netherlands after being convicted of murder, drug smuggling and other charges. He is referred to by the European press as the "Europe's Escobar".
Hüseyin Baybaşin was born in Lice on December 25, 1956. [1] His family, like every other families in the district, was a poor Kurdish family with many children. [1] [2] At the age of 14, he met his first drug, marijuana, and started smoking it. [1] [3] When his brothers turned drugs into an illegal business, he became a drug dealer.
In the early 1970s, his brothers started producing drugs by refining heroin in Lice. [4]
In 1976, he was caught while transporting 11 kg (24 lb) hashish to Istanbul. [5] In 1984, he was arrested in the United Kingdom for smuggling drugs internationally on the basis of a false passport. [5] He was sent from the United Kingdom to Turkey to serve his sentence but was released in 1989.
Baybaşin became particularly famous after the Kısmetim-1 shipwreck, which shook the public order in Turkey. [6] The Kısmetim-1 ship, which was besieged by the Turkish Police, allegedly carrying ~3,100 kg (6,800 lb) [7] of base morphine to be smuggled to Turkey, was sunk by its crew in 1992. [8]
In 1994, he fled to the United Kingdom to join his elder brother Abdullah Baybaşin and applied for asylum. [9] In 1995, he was convicted and arrested in the Rotterdam for dealing in firearms without a licence. [10]
By 1998, the Baybaşin brothers had amassed a fortune smuggling heroin to Europe. Hüseyin and Abdullah moved to North London and chose Amsterdam as their base. [4] [10]
Baybaşin was captured with his nephew Gıyasettin Baybaşin in a villa in Lieshout, on 27 March 1998, in a joint operation codenamed "Black Stain" by the British ( MI6), Dutch ( AIVD), Belgian ( GISS), and German ( BND) intelligence services. [11] [10] [12] He was initially placed in a regular detention centre in Rotterdam. On 26 June 1998, it was decided to place him in a high-security detention centre in Vught. His detention in Vught Prison was extended several times. [11]
Hüseyin Baybaşin and Gıyasettin Baybaşin were tried and found guilty of attempted murder, hostage, racketeering, kidnapping, forgery, and drug trafficking on 10 February 2001. [13] [12] Ton Derksen, a Dutch professor emeritus, got access to the telephone recordings which were presented as evidence. [14] According to him, the telephone recordings were manipulated. [15] Hüseyin Baybaşin was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment, which was commuted to life imprisonment in July 2002. [16] Gıyasettin Baybaşin was sentenced to 11-year imprisonment. [17] Abdullah Baybaşin was convicted around the same time and imprisoned in the United Kingdom. [4]
On 24 December 2003, Hüseyin Baybaşin was transferred to another prison with a different regime.[ citation needed] On 23 March 2004, a psychiatric report found that Baybaşin had developed various mental problems including chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and a strong tendency towards somatisation during his detention in the maximum security prison. [11]
In the same period, the State Security Court in Istanbul tried 21 Turkish people, among them in absentia Hüseyin and Gıyasettin Baybaşin, imprisoned in the Netherlands, and Nizamettin Baybaşin, convicted for fifteen years in prison in Germany, for setting up a criminal organization and exporting illicit drugs. The court concluded the apprehension of those accused. [17][ better source needed]
Baybaşin has four children. [18] It is estimated that Baybaşin invested most of his fortune in touristic facilities and luxury hotels on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts. [4] Baybaşin is an active supporter and financier of the PKK. [19]
In the European public opinion of the early 2000s he was constantly referred to as "Europe's Pablo Escobar" or "European Escobar". [2] [20] [21] In 2005, the citizenship of the Republic of Turkey was mutually renounced. [22] And while in prison, he became a naturalised Dutch citizen. [23]
Hüseyin Baybaşin | |
---|---|
![]() Baybaşin in 2022 | |
Born | 25 December 1956
Lice,
Diyarbakır, Turkey | (age 67)
Other names | Europe's Escobar |
Citizenship | ![]() ![]() |
Criminal status | In prison |
Children | 4 |
Conviction(s) | |
Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment |
Hüseyin Baybaşin (born 25 December 1956) is a Kurdish drug lord and organized crime boss. He is currently serving a life sentence in the Netherlands after being convicted of murder, drug smuggling and other charges. He is referred to by the European press as the "Europe's Escobar".
Hüseyin Baybaşin was born in Lice on December 25, 1956. [1] His family, like every other families in the district, was a poor Kurdish family with many children. [1] [2] At the age of 14, he met his first drug, marijuana, and started smoking it. [1] [3] When his brothers turned drugs into an illegal business, he became a drug dealer.
In the early 1970s, his brothers started producing drugs by refining heroin in Lice. [4]
In 1976, he was caught while transporting 11 kg (24 lb) hashish to Istanbul. [5] In 1984, he was arrested in the United Kingdom for smuggling drugs internationally on the basis of a false passport. [5] He was sent from the United Kingdom to Turkey to serve his sentence but was released in 1989.
Baybaşin became particularly famous after the Kısmetim-1 shipwreck, which shook the public order in Turkey. [6] The Kısmetim-1 ship, which was besieged by the Turkish Police, allegedly carrying ~3,100 kg (6,800 lb) [7] of base morphine to be smuggled to Turkey, was sunk by its crew in 1992. [8]
In 1994, he fled to the United Kingdom to join his elder brother Abdullah Baybaşin and applied for asylum. [9] In 1995, he was convicted and arrested in the Rotterdam for dealing in firearms without a licence. [10]
By 1998, the Baybaşin brothers had amassed a fortune smuggling heroin to Europe. Hüseyin and Abdullah moved to North London and chose Amsterdam as their base. [4] [10]
Baybaşin was captured with his nephew Gıyasettin Baybaşin in a villa in Lieshout, on 27 March 1998, in a joint operation codenamed "Black Stain" by the British ( MI6), Dutch ( AIVD), Belgian ( GISS), and German ( BND) intelligence services. [11] [10] [12] He was initially placed in a regular detention centre in Rotterdam. On 26 June 1998, it was decided to place him in a high-security detention centre in Vught. His detention in Vught Prison was extended several times. [11]
Hüseyin Baybaşin and Gıyasettin Baybaşin were tried and found guilty of attempted murder, hostage, racketeering, kidnapping, forgery, and drug trafficking on 10 February 2001. [13] [12] Ton Derksen, a Dutch professor emeritus, got access to the telephone recordings which were presented as evidence. [14] According to him, the telephone recordings were manipulated. [15] Hüseyin Baybaşin was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment, which was commuted to life imprisonment in July 2002. [16] Gıyasettin Baybaşin was sentenced to 11-year imprisonment. [17] Abdullah Baybaşin was convicted around the same time and imprisoned in the United Kingdom. [4]
On 24 December 2003, Hüseyin Baybaşin was transferred to another prison with a different regime.[ citation needed] On 23 March 2004, a psychiatric report found that Baybaşin had developed various mental problems including chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and a strong tendency towards somatisation during his detention in the maximum security prison. [11]
In the same period, the State Security Court in Istanbul tried 21 Turkish people, among them in absentia Hüseyin and Gıyasettin Baybaşin, imprisoned in the Netherlands, and Nizamettin Baybaşin, convicted for fifteen years in prison in Germany, for setting up a criminal organization and exporting illicit drugs. The court concluded the apprehension of those accused. [17][ better source needed]
Baybaşin has four children. [18] It is estimated that Baybaşin invested most of his fortune in touristic facilities and luxury hotels on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts. [4] Baybaşin is an active supporter and financier of the PKK. [19]
In the European public opinion of the early 2000s he was constantly referred to as "Europe's Pablo Escobar" or "European Escobar". [2] [20] [21] In 2005, the citizenship of the Republic of Turkey was mutually renounced. [22] And while in prison, he became a naturalised Dutch citizen. [23]