'Bomber' brothers 'The Family' fall out over luxury property as their wallets are squeezed
Three brothers who are part of a notorious crime group who have controlled much of Europe's drug trade are fighting amongst themselves regarding the ownership of a luxury property. New documents seen by the ECHO show the Baybasin brothers have appeared before the High Court of Justice to contend their ownership on a family home that was ordered to be seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act at Liverpool Crown Court.
Turkish national Mehmet Baybasin, now 60, was jailed for 30 years at Liverpool Crown Court in 2011 after plotting with a Merseyside gang to import vast quantities of cocaine from South America. The gang leader concocted a "sophisticated" plot to get a 40 tonne shipment of cocaine from Columbia to Britain in collaboration with Liverpool gangsters led by Eldonian Village man Paul Taylor.
Much of the conspiracy on the Liverpool end was run via a telephone box on Old Hall Street in the city centre, with Taylor using it as his "office" to talk business with Baybasin based in Edgware in London. Mehmet comes from a notorious crime group who are widely known in Europe simply as "The Family" due to their notability.
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Mehmet's older brother Huseyin Baybasin is currently serving a life sentence in the Netherlands after being convicted of drug trafficking and conspiracy to murder in 2001. Amsterdam-based Huseyin has been referred to as the "Pablo Escobar of Europe" after taking control of much of the heroin being exported from the poppy fields of Afghanistan in the 1970s.
Huseyin has since claimed in media interviews he was in league with high ranking officials in the Turkish government, and is also alleged to have had links with various intelligence services and militia groups. After Huseyin, reportedly nicknamed "The Emperor", was locked up, the family business was allegedly taken over by his brother, Abdullah Baybasin, who uses a wheelchair after being shot by a rival.
The brothers' organisation are also known as "The Bombacilar", which translates as bombers, and have been in a bloody turf war in London with the Tottenham Turks. The two gangs' young recruits have fought to extort businesses in the same area which has resulted in deadly clashes with rival gangs.
In 2006, Abdullah was jailed for 20 years for the importation of heroin, although he was later freed on appeal. Despite his acquittal, a judge ruled in 2013 he should repay £700,000 in ill-gotten gains generated by his protection racket. The judge noted that Abdullah, then 52, had also been secretly recorded discussing firearms, collecting 'protection' payments, and sharing the profits of his gangland activity.
Mehmet Baybasin was not put off by the downfall of his brothers, and plotted with Taylor's firm to ship 40 tonnes of cocaine, produced in Colombia, from a port in Venezuela. The drugs were to be stashed in tins of fish or wood pellets. Officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) listened in on calls between Taylor and Baybasin as they talked of ‘36s’ (£36,000 for a kg of cocaine) and buying ‘200 bits’ (shipments of 200kg).
They watched from afar as Taylor headed to the capital to meet Baybasin in an Elstree cafe and they looked on in astonishment as visitors to Taylor’s home, which was bugge, parked around the corner and then clambered over his back gate in the hope of not being seen.
Three times the gang tried to make the imports a success, but internal squabbles and mix-ups meant that despite hundreds of thousands of pounds changing hands the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) stopped them before the plot could come off. However they tried again to arrange the enormous cocaine shipment.
Baybasin acted as the gang's international connection and travelled to South America regularly for meetings with cartel representatives Ricardo Ocampo, a Colombian, and Venezuelan Javier Oponte. Speaking about the plot, a High Court judge said in 2022: "This was highly organised international drug trafficking on a vast scale.
"The Court of Appeal endorsed the trial judge's conclusion that Mehmet Baybasin was near the top of the supply chain and distribution organisation, and was not only controlling and directing operations in London but also had international connections."
A legal battle is currently ongoing over the family home - a large detached house in the Canons Drive estate of Edgware. Since 1998 the property has been subject to a High Court order in support of proceedings brought by the Government of the Netherlands against Huseyin.
In 2018, His Honour Judge David Aubrey made an order in respect of the property at Liverpool Crown Court. The judge declared that Mehmet had a 25% beneficial interest in the property and Christine Bartlett, an enforcement receiver, applied for an order for the property to be sold.
Once sold Ms Bartlett would recoup 25% of the net profits to be paid to her in her capacity as the enforcer of the Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings. According to a previous judgement handed down by the High Court, the property is believed to be jointly owned by four Baybasin brothers, including Huseyin, Abdullah and Mehmet, and members of their family still reside there.
A 25% stake in the property is valued at around £330,000 as determined during a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing after Mehmet's conviction. The initial wrangle, reported by the ECHO, saw the brothers arguing that they had not had sufficient notice about the application.
However, the case is further complicated by an application by the Dutch Ministry of Justice who are seeking to reclaim the criminal assets of Huseyin. Previous reports showed the Dutch authorities had appeared to have asked the British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to act for them in court proceedings on the basis that Huseyin owned 100% of the property.
However, a High Court judge said the CPS appeared to have adopted two opposing conclusions when acting both in the Proceeds of Crime Act case against Mehmet and acting as an agent for the Dutch authorities. In new documents, Mr Justice Stephen Eyre said: "Mehmet and Abdullah have applied jointly for the property to be sold and for each of them to receive 25% of the net proceeds (though Mehmet accepts that in his case the payment will be to the receiver, at least to the extent that is necessary to satisfy the requirements of the confiscation order to which he is subject).
"Huseyin resists these applications and seeks to contend that he is the sole beneficial owner of the property. The receiver, Mehmet, and Abdullah say that it is not open to Huseyin to advance that argument and that he is precluded by Judge Aubrey's order from asserting any beneficial interest greater than that of one-quarter."
It now appears that the Government of Netherlands has accepted that it is not in a position to challenge the factual basis of Judge Aubrey's findings that the four brothers are beneficial owners in equal shares. Mehmet and Abdullah said it would be unfair to allow the question of interest in the property to be relitigated now.
Mr Justice Eyre ruled that Huseyin was precluded from contending that his brothers did not have a 25% beneficial interest in the property. It is believed that steps will continue for the selling of the property to raise the funds made under Judge Aubrey's Proceeds of Crime Act order.