Leader of "Hells Angels" crime gang arrested in Türkiye

Turkish authorities have detained Coşkun Necati Arabacı, the alleged head of the organised crime group known as the “Hells Angels”, during a security operation in the western city of İzmir.

According to the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the arrest followed an investigation into organised criminal activities in the region, Caliber.Az reports, citing Turkish media.

Arabacı was identified after travelling from Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, to İzmir’s Adnan Menderes Airport on October 5.

He was taken into custody by officers from the provincial police department’s organised crime unit.

Arabacı’s police interrogation is ongoing, officials said.

Arabacı, whose record dates back to the early 2000s, was arrested in Germany in 2002 on charges including human trafficking, extortion, and weapons violations, and sentenced to nine years in prison.

While incarcerated, authorities uncovered a failed plot to assassinate a prosecutor — a charge he later escaped due to legal technicalities.

After his release, he rose through the ranks of the "Hells Angels", becoming president of the Nomads Türkiye chapter in 2010 and later emerging as a contender to lead the gang’s European operations.

Spanish authorities issued a European arrest warrant for him in 2015 over organised crime and drug trafficking allegations, but he avoided extradition as Türkiye does not hand over its citizens.

By Aghakazim Guliyev