International Journal on Criminology Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2015 | Page 52

Organized Crime Behind Bars
In Finland, the authorities have identified seven local criminal organizations
posing serious security problems. Among them is one prison gang called MORE. 121
F - Turkey
The “high security” prison at Kartal, Istanbul, serves as headquarters for various
criminal groups, as has been revealed by two letters written by mafia boss Alaattin
Cakici, a former member of the Grey Wolves, 122 to two leaders of the Karagümrük
Gang 123 Nuri and Vedat Ergin 124 .The Ergin brothers had “sent” a mobile phone to
Alaattin Cakici, as a gift. In his letter of thanks, Cakici proposed to share the same
cell with the Ergin brothers, “to organize our affairs more effectively.” Cakici also
complained that the isolation he had experienced during his incarceration in France 125
had made it “impossible to take care of his criminal enterprise in Turkey.” He therefore
proposed an alliance with leaders of the Karagümrük gang.
These letters were later published by lawyers for the Ergin brothers, angered
by rumors of conflict between the two mafia clans. The authorities found the mobile
phone in Çakici's cell and confiscated it. Two weeks later, the guards found yet another.
To avoid an escalation of the conflict, the prison administration then transferred Çakici
to Kandira Prison in Kocaeli. 126
G - New Zealand
In 2001 Dean Waka Nathan, 42, member of the motorcycle gang Highway 61,
was jailed for life in Christchurch prison for the murder of a member of the Black
Power gang. He was charged with drug trafficking from his cell and pleaded guilty. His
business involved methamphetamine and cannabis movements between Auckland
and Christchurch. Eight other people were arrested in this affair, dubbed Operation
Fudge. 127 The criminologist needs, therefore, to analyze this very specific threat, of which
we have laid out the symptoms, in order to alert the parties involved, and explain
to them the genuine risk of destabilization that these prison gangs pose today in the
already fragile prison world. Serious reflection on our penal philosophy is clearly
required.
121
Me Olemme Rikollisten Eliittiä (We are the criminal elite), Helsinki Times, November 12, 2009.
122
One of the most important criminal groups in Istanbul. See Raufer, X. Le grand réveil des mafias.
Paris: JC Lattès, 2003, 279.
123
Raufer. Le grand réveil des mafias, 280.
124
Tuncay Ozkan, Radikal, March 2000.
125
From August 1998 to December 1999. His arrest revealed links with the Turkish intelligence service
and with politicians, bringing scandal down on the government and the the resignation of many
ministers.
126
Around 80 miles east of Istanbul.
127
New Zealand Herald, September 25, 2009.
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