Story By Marija Stojkoska
News Editor Ajda Ender
This is the moment police finally arrest a drug trafficker nicknamed the Baby-Faced Cocaine Courier, who was reportedly regularly chosen by traffickers because his youthful and innocent appearance helped him avoid suspicion at border checks.
Police seize 23 kilogrammes and 350 grammes of cocaine in Istanbul, Turkey. ***Video Licence Restrictions: NEWS MEDIA PORTALS ONLY. Usage on social media is possible but we offer no guarantees. This video is offered under our ‘social and local media source’ licence. For details see https://newsx.agency/licences/ For terms visit: https://newsx.media/terms-conditions/
The operation in which more than 23 kilogrammes of cocaine were seized before arresting four suspects took place in Beylikduzu district in the European side of Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city straddling Europe and Asia, on 18th June.
Picture shows the ‘Baby-Faced Cocaine Courier’ Nikita, undated. Police arrested four suspects in an international drug trafficking route stretching from the Canary Islands to Istanbul. Note: Private picture. (Newsflash/NX)
Baby Face was reportedly known to cops for his nickname via informants and from their wider investigation, but they had no idea of his real name, or the fact that they would grab him when they swooped to intercept a drug shipment in their latest operation.
Police seize 23 kilogrammes and 350 grammes of cocaine in Istanbul, Turkey. Police arrested four suspects in an international drug trafficking route stretching from the Canary Islands to Istanbul. Note: Photo is a screenshot from a video. (@istanbulnarkotikpolisi, Newsflash/NX)
Video released by police shows officers inspecting a suitcase in the boot of a taxi before revealing dozens of packages of cocaine concealed inside.
Picture shows one of the suspects at the airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Police arrested four suspects in an international drug trafficking route stretching from the Canary Islands to Istanbul. Note: Police picture. (@istanbulnarkotikpolisi, Newsflash/NX)
Investigators said the drugs haul weighed 23 kilogrammes and 350 grammes and had been transported to Turkey from Spain’s Canary Islands by an international trafficking network.
Police seize 23 kilogrammes and 350 grammes of cocaine in Istanbul, Turkey. Police arrested four suspects in an international drug trafficking route stretching from the Canary Islands to Istanbul. Note: Photo is a screenshot from a video. (@istanbulnarkotikpolisi, Newsflash/NX)
Officers from Istanbul Police Intelligence and the Narcotics Crime Department spent weeks tracking the network and decoding the chain of messages linking the couriers and buyers.
Police seize 23 kilogrammes and 350 grammes of cocaine in Istanbul, Turkey. Police arrested four suspects in an international drug trafficking route stretching from the Canary Islands to Istanbul. Note: Photo is a screenshot from a video. (@istanbulnarkotikpolisi, Newsflash/NX)
The investigation revealed that two foreign couriers had collected the cocaine in the Canary Islands and flown with it to Istanbul.
Picture shows one of the suspects at the airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Police arrested four suspects in an international drug trafficking route stretching from the Canary Islands to Istanbul. Note: Private picture. (Newsflash/NX)
After arriving in the city, they allegedly handed the suitcase to a commercial taxi that had been directed to them by the intended recipients.
Picture shows two of the suspects at the airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Police arrested four suspects in an international drug trafficking route stretching from the Canary Islands to Istanbul. Note: Private picture. (Newsflash/NX)
Police then moved in simultaneously on the suspects after monitoring the operation step by step.
The cocaine was discovered in a suitcase inside the taxi’s boot.
According to police, the gang used a method known as the “blind spot” plan, designed to ensure couriers and receivers never met face to face.
The scheme involved two foreign couriers handing a suitcase packed with cocaine to a designated taxi, while the intended recipients monitored the vehicle’s movements remotely and planned to collect the drugs at a separate location without ever meeting the couriers face to face.
Two Turkish suspects, identified as Volkan Armisen and Isa Celik, were arrested at the scene along with Savelii Lobanov.
Picture shows one of the suspects at the airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Police arrested four suspects in an international drug trafficking route stretching from the Canary Islands to Istanbul. Note: Private picture. (Newsflash/NX)
Investigators identified Savelii Lobanov as one of the alleged local recipients of the shipment, working alongside Armisen and Celik to receive the cocaine after it arrived in Istanbul.
Another suspect, identified as Ukrainian national Nikita, allegedly acted as one of the couriers who brought the cocaine into Turkey and was arrested separately as he prepared to board a flight out of the country.
Picture shows one of the suspects at the airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Police arrested four suspects in an international drug trafficking route stretching from the Canary Islands to Istanbul. Note: Private picture. (Newsflash/NX)
Investigators said Nikita was known in international criminal circles as the “Baby-Faced Cocaine Courier”.
Police did not initially know Nikita’s identity when they intercepted the taxi carrying the drugs.
After the seizure, investigators reviewed security camera footage from around the drop-off area, traced the courier’s movements, identified him, and alerted border officers, who detained him at Istanbul Airport.
Police claimed the trafficking network deliberately selected him because of his youthful and innocent appearance, which they believed would help him avoid attracting attention during international travel.
Authorities described him as a key link in the international cocaine trafficking operation.
All four suspects were taken into custody and later appeared before court accused of producing and trafficking narcotics.
Picture shows one of the suspects with the suitcase containing drugs in Istanbul, Turkey. Police arrested four suspects in an international drug trafficking route stretching from the Canary Islands to Istanbul. Note: Private picture. (Newsflash/NX)
The court ordered all four men to be remanded in custody pending further proceedings.
In a statement, Istanbul Police said operations against drug traffickers seeking to “poison the youth and the future” would continue with the highest level of determination.
(Marija Stojkoska/Newsflash)
