The New York Police Department (NYPD) conducted an operation against an organized Turkish crime organization in early July in coordination with the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Turkish Police. As a result of the operation, code named "Operation Ankara", 77 undocumented immigrants of Turkish origin were arrested and 57 were taken into custody. The ringleaders, five Turkish nationals, were indicted on charges of aiding the illegal entrance of immigrants into the United States, employing undocumented immigrants, tax evasion and money laundering. through fake invoices.
Local Nassau and Suffolk police officials participated in Operation Ankara, which conducted simultaneous raids on 140 gas stations in Long Island believed to belong to the crime network.
According to police officials, the majority of those arrested were immigrants of Turkish origin. Officials also stated that Operation Ankara is still in its beginning phase and that there could be other arrests in the near future.
The first operations closed in on three gas stations in Long Island, which are believed to be the
cash collecting points of the network. "The ring leaders’ offices were in those gas stations" said
a spokesperson for the police, where employees brought the daily take. The money collected was then deposited to several bank accounts in sums of $10,000. Washington Mutual and HSBC were among the banks where federal agents tracked the money. Employees at the two banks assisted the police during the operation.
Police officials stated that if found guilty, the ring leaders could receive up to 10 years in prison. The court rejected a request for bail made in the preliminary hearing.
ICE officials have stated that the Turkish mob laundered more than $28 million. ICE spokesperson John Foy said: "We found that they laundered big sums of money in and then transferred the funds abroad by depositing them into bank accounts in sums of less than $10,000. This constitutes tax evasion, illegal transfer of money abroad and a violation of foreign exchange regulations.” According to U.S. law, any account with more than $10,000 needs to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service.
Before Operation Ankara was launched, the FBI had the gas stations under close surveillance. They found that undocumented immigrant workers were employed at those stations and that some of the station owners were transferring undocumented workers from Turkey to the United States.
Laura Heydweiller, the director of the Operation Ankara, talked about the working conditions of the undocumented Turkish workers. "Undocumented immigrants were working in incredibly bad conditions. They have been working like slaves, 17 hours a day, seven days a week. They are forced to live in very crowded and small apartments."
Among those arrested was Natalia Sanchez, accused of marrying four illegal Turkish
immigrants, promising to provide them with green cards. Sanchez made a $50,000 bail and remains free. The police continue to search for the four Turkish immigrants that she married.
