Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Armed officers deployed on Tottenham streets (update: officers now withdrawn).
Following taken from The Guardian;
Police patrols armed
The criminal landscape within a narrow two-mile band of north London, between the Green Lanes area of Haringey and Clapton to the east, has reached a critical stage. A ferocious turf war between Bombacilar and the Tottenham Boys is spiralling out of control.
Three weeks ago the feud's most audacious killing took place. Oktay Erbasli, a prominent member of the Tottenham Boys, was waiting at traffic lights at a busy junction in his Range Rover when a motorcycle pulled alongside. A hitman linked to the Bombacilar gang opened fire, killing the 23-year-old.
Within the tit-for-tat mentality of gangland retribution, reprisals are inevitable. In Erbasli's case it came within 72 hours: Cem Duzgun, 21, had been playing snooker in a Clapton social club with friends when two hooded men approached at 10.50pm and opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon.
For Scotland Yard's senior command, Duzgun's death was the final straw. Something had to give, something drastic was required to tackle the vortex of violence. The decision was taken; for the first time, officers armed with Heckler & Koch semi-automatic sub-machine guns would be deployed on routine patrol on London's streets. They could also have fast motorbikes at their disposal.
The decision, ratified in a recent meeting between Met borough commanders and CO19 senior officers, had followed months of anxious reports from community leaders that their areas were under siege and concerns among senior officers that they risked losing control.
Kavanagh, the officer in charge of policing the area, said the wives of extorted shopkeepers and the girlfriends of gangsters had, for months, pleaded with him to do something; anything to break the cycle of violence. Skirmishes between the Bombacilar and Tottenham Boys have seen 11 major shootings since August, all confined to the slender north London corridor between the Green Lanes area of Haringey and Clapton to the east.
Suleyman Ergun, formerly one of Britain's most prominent Turkish criminals, who at the age of 21 became the world's third-biggest heroin dealer before being jailed for 14 years, told the Observer how easy it was for gangs to obtain guns.
Ergun believes that the trade in heroin, traditionally controlled in London by Turkish organised criminals, remains as rife as ever. He said: "You've got the Kurds bringing it over, 10, 15, 20 kilos at a time, and these youngsters are buying it off them and selling it on the street, and that's where the war is coming from.
Widening gang links
One theory behind the surge in shootings points to the power vacuum left in the wake of Ergun's imprisonment and, three years ago, the jailing of Abdullah Baybasin, who was one of the country's most feared criminals and who ruled his £10bn heroin empire with violence and intimidation.
The Turkish 48-year-old, who lived in north London, commanded a gang of foot soldiers who racketeered, imported drugs and instilled fear into London's Turkish and Kurdish communities. His jailing for 22 years destabilised the gangs' natural order, creating a power struggle now filled by the dozens of young men affiliated to the Bombacilar and Tottenham Boys.
What added to the decision to use armed patrols was the intelligence that both Turkish groups had forged alliances with some of London's most notorious black gangs, all of whom held a long-standing reputation for violence and the casual use of firearms.
Kavanagh believes that the unprecedented union suggests that the long-standing black gangs of Hackney had joined forces with the Turkish crews to widen their drugs markets and broaden their influence. "The expansion is to do with drugs and violence and kudos and what opportunities they have to support each other. Those bonds are quite chaotic relationships.
Past violence on Green Lanes
Kavanagh is no stranger to the lethal potential of north London's gunmen and the Turkish gangs' propensity for violence. He was the senior investigating officer in the 2002 murder of Alisan Dogan, 43, a cleaner who was caught in the crossfire and died from stab wounds when dozens of criminals staged a running battle in the busy shopping street of Green Lanes. The incident – which left four men with gunshot wounds – is thought to be connected to Turkish organised crime involving the Bombacilars.
Losing respect in gangland Britain these days is, say police, sufficient to ignite long-running feuds. When you lose face in a stand-off between the Bombacilar and the Tottenham Boys, north London's most prominent and feared Turkish crews, the fallout can be fatal.
Be careful on your local high street.
Police patrols armed
The criminal landscape within a narrow two-mile band of north London, between the Green Lanes area of Haringey and Clapton to the east, has reached a critical stage. A ferocious turf war between Bombacilar and the Tottenham Boys is spiralling out of control.
Three weeks ago the feud's most audacious killing took place. Oktay Erbasli, a prominent member of the Tottenham Boys, was waiting at traffic lights at a busy junction in his Range Rover when a motorcycle pulled alongside. A hitman linked to the Bombacilar gang opened fire, killing the 23-year-old.
Within the tit-for-tat mentality of gangland retribution, reprisals are inevitable. In Erbasli's case it came within 72 hours: Cem Duzgun, 21, had been playing snooker in a Clapton social club with friends when two hooded men approached at 10.50pm and opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon.
For Scotland Yard's senior command, Duzgun's death was the final straw. Something had to give, something drastic was required to tackle the vortex of violence. The decision was taken; for the first time, officers armed with Heckler & Koch semi-automatic sub-machine guns would be deployed on routine patrol on London's streets. They could also have fast motorbikes at their disposal.
The decision, ratified in a recent meeting between Met borough commanders and CO19 senior officers, had followed months of anxious reports from community leaders that their areas were under siege and concerns among senior officers that they risked losing control.
Kavanagh, the officer in charge of policing the area, said the wives of extorted shopkeepers and the girlfriends of gangsters had, for months, pleaded with him to do something; anything to break the cycle of violence. Skirmishes between the Bombacilar and Tottenham Boys have seen 11 major shootings since August, all confined to the slender north London corridor between the Green Lanes area of Haringey and Clapton to the east.
Suleyman Ergun, formerly one of Britain's most prominent Turkish criminals, who at the age of 21 became the world's third-biggest heroin dealer before being jailed for 14 years, told the Observer how easy it was for gangs to obtain guns.
Ergun believes that the trade in heroin, traditionally controlled in London by Turkish organised criminals, remains as rife as ever. He said: "You've got the Kurds bringing it over, 10, 15, 20 kilos at a time, and these youngsters are buying it off them and selling it on the street, and that's where the war is coming from.
Widening gang links
One theory behind the surge in shootings points to the power vacuum left in the wake of Ergun's imprisonment and, three years ago, the jailing of Abdullah Baybasin, who was one of the country's most feared criminals and who ruled his £10bn heroin empire with violence and intimidation.
The Turkish 48-year-old, who lived in north London, commanded a gang of foot soldiers who racketeered, imported drugs and instilled fear into London's Turkish and Kurdish communities. His jailing for 22 years destabilised the gangs' natural order, creating a power struggle now filled by the dozens of young men affiliated to the Bombacilar and Tottenham Boys.
What added to the decision to use armed patrols was the intelligence that both Turkish groups had forged alliances with some of London's most notorious black gangs, all of whom held a long-standing reputation for violence and the casual use of firearms.
Kavanagh believes that the unprecedented union suggests that the long-standing black gangs of Hackney had joined forces with the Turkish crews to widen their drugs markets and broaden their influence. "The expansion is to do with drugs and violence and kudos and what opportunities they have to support each other. Those bonds are quite chaotic relationships.
Past violence on Green Lanes
Kavanagh is no stranger to the lethal potential of north London's gunmen and the Turkish gangs' propensity for violence. He was the senior investigating officer in the 2002 murder of Alisan Dogan, 43, a cleaner who was caught in the crossfire and died from stab wounds when dozens of criminals staged a running battle in the busy shopping street of Green Lanes. The incident – which left four men with gunshot wounds – is thought to be connected to Turkish organised crime involving the Bombacilars.
Losing respect in gangland Britain these days is, say police, sufficient to ignite long-running feuds. When you lose face in a stand-off between the Bombacilar and the Tottenham Boys, north London's most prominent and feared Turkish crews, the fallout can be fatal.
Be careful on your local high street.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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It appears you are correct. This article is very interesting.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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The Turkish Army is the child of Mustapha Attaturk, a hard core secularist.
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Storky, that's very interesting. Nothing like going to a country over time to start to understand some of the cultural nuances. Are you from there originally?
There doesn't appear to be much discussion in the media or elsewhere of the situation along Green Lanes with these mafia or gangs. No doubt because of the culture of secrecy that surrounds their activities.
For those shop owners on the end of the extortion is must be truely frightening (for as The Guardian article says, this criminal activity is still going on). It's even more worrying that the vacuum filled by 'younger hotheads', now that main crime boses are behind bars, involves greater use of guns for tit for tat revenge crime.
The police are trying to head off further such activity by putting fully armed units onto our streets and letting the criminals know exactly that. Lets hope they're also gathering intelligence for prosecutions.
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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Good story by Storky
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One theory behind the surge in shootings points to the power vacuum left in the wake of Ergun's imprisonment and, three years ago, the jailing of Abdullah Baybasin
So... ummm.... why is there no power vacuum in Crouch End where they don't have criminal gangs either?
Could we not have left it until they'd killed one another? I mean, their innocent bystander count is something CO19 would be happy with.
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Permalink Reply by phippsofacto on
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Crouch End's power vacuum was filled by Waitrose.
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Permalink Reply by Chris brock on
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There's been no Dysons in Crouch End since The Power Store shut down and became Lo Spiazzo!
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Where's did the picture you added come from Matt? I don't see it on The Guardian article. I was just about top have a go at them for adding a picture entitled Green Lanes when it's not - would that we had such nice shop fronts!
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Police with guns is only going to further intimidate, and if anything will make the firearms officers targets for they're guns by gangs of youths, ~20 youths vs. a few firearms officers... The police are just gonna be bringing down hell on themselves...
Are we really this feared: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldZhlTc8k_E ;)
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Well I object to a lot of stuff being put in the weekly mail out. I think people need to be more careful of their topic headings. The ones that really got to me were "Harringay passage, is it safe for women?" and some other one about cyclists being Nazi criminals. So many people just read the email and don't click through to the article. Finishing the article with "Be careful on your local high street" was a bit on the nose too, I was waiting for James to say "Stay inside, buy stuff". I don't have any suggestions for an alternative heading but I personally don't like "inflammatory" stuff going out in the email. You are not saving one person from being gunned down outside their shop because they didn't realise that there was a gang war on, you are making every person who gets that email just that little bit more scared of the place they live in.
I think they're right to leave it out of the email. I prefer only the nice fluffy community stuff in the there.
I'm enjoying the David Lammy/BoJo stuff over the CO19 deployment. I wish someone could write something interesting about that...
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The Granuiad are doing a lovely job of "informing" the Granuiad reading HoLers.
What about a thread asking, why is there corruption and a gang war on our High Street but not on another High Street in London. I play cricket with a guy who owns "cornershops" from Enfield down to Newington Green but not here. He's very cagey when I ask him why not (he's from Pakistan BTW). Why? What's so special about our High Street that 90% of the UK's Heroin comes through here?
You're just arguing about why this didn't make the email and I think if you look back you'll notice lots of controversial stuff doesn't make the email. Relax.
PS I know of only one comment that has ever been "deleted". You'd be surprised how often people delete their own comments.
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