Human Rights Law Used to Prevent Deportation of Turkish Drug Lord From the UK

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 16: A statue of the scales of justice stand above the Old Baile
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Kurt Zindulka

A human rights law was successfully used to block the deportation of a Turkish drug lord from the United Kingdom despite previously being ruled by British judges to be a “danger to the community”.

The 52-year-old Turk — referred to only as ‘CD’ as he was also granted anonymity — has been described as a “very major player” in the heroin-smuggling racket in Britain, yet he will not face deportation.

CD was released from prison in January after only serving two-thirds of his 18-year sentence. Rather than being deported from the country, his lawyers successfully argued that his removal from the country would breach his human rights due to the dangers he would face should he return to his native Turkey.

According to documents seen by the Mail on Sunday, the drug dealer initially entered the UK as an illegal immigrant in 1995 and was refused asylum, but was granted exceptional leave to remain in the country in the year 2000.

In 2002, CD was arrested after Dutch police tipped off the UK that he was wanted in connection to the heroin trade, and was jailed for four years in that country after police found a loaded pistol in his flat.

While in prison, the illegal Turkish migrant successfully argued against deportation and was granted asylum, claiming that his ties to Kurdish separatists and his previous crimes would put his life in danger in Turkey.

CD was arrested again in 2008 after police surveillance of his home found that he was acting as the leader of a “massive” drug importation ring. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, however, he only served two-thirds of his sentence.

Immigration judges ruled that the Turkish migrant was successful in his attempt to “deceive and conceal” the true risk of his release from probation officers.

“We do not accept that he rose from the bottom to the top of an international heroin smuggling ring within 18 months of his release from prison,” the judges wrote.

“We think he has wilfully attempted to minimise or conceal his previous involvement in that world,” they added, yet this was apparently not enough to deport him from the UK.

Home Secretary Priti Patel laid out plans in November to simplify the system for judges to deport foreign criminals, however, it is currently unknown whether the update to the law would supersede the Human Rights Act of 1998 in cases like that of CD.

In response to the failed attempts to deport the Turkish drug kingpin, the Chairman of Migration Watch UK, Alp Mehmet said: “The Government needs to be able to remove offenders who pose a threat to the public.”

At present, there are approximately 10,000 foreign criminals remaining in the UK despite being subject to deportation, compared to 3,943 in 2012.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here: @KurtZindulka

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