13.11.2024 13:22
Seventy-two members of a criminal organization that threatened shopkeepers in Antalya by calling them on the phone to create an atmosphere of fear and panic while demanding money have been arrested. Sixty-five of the suspects have been detained. It was also determined that the organization used underage suspects as hitmen.
The Antalya Police Department officials determined that some suspects, using the name of a criminal organization, have been calling local tradesmen from foreign phone lines abroad, creating an atmosphere of fear and panic to demand money through threats.
It was identified that, after the tradesmen refused to comply, the suspects contacted minors with records of petty crimes such as drug use, substance addiction, theft, and sexual offenses, using them as hitmen to carry out or attempt to carry out incidents such as 'threats, robbery, property damage, injury, and workplace shootings.'
72 DETENTIONS, 65 ARRESTS
As part of the operations against these individuals by the police officers; 2 hand grenades, 32 unlicensed pistols, 1 fully automatic weapon referred to as 'Scorpion', 4 ballistic vests, 5 rifles, 1665 pistol and long-barreled rifle cartridges, 1 knuckle duster, 1 knife referred to as 'slapper', 2 ski masks, 1 weapon silencer, 3 precision scales, 1 press machine used for packaging drugs, 4 motorcycles, and 1 stolen car were seized. Of the 72 suspects taken into custody, 65 were arrested by the judicial authorities to which they were referred.