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Turkish and German authorities launched simultaneous operations against Hells Angels, an outlaw motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate. The Istanbul police seized ₺780 million ($17.26 million) in assets in a three-city sweep targeting the network led by Coskun Necati Arabaci, known as "Cehennem Necati."
In addition to Turkish efforts to dismantle the gang, 1,200 German police officers raided more than 50 locations across 28 cities in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). Authorities described the crackdown as the largest operation against motorcycle-gang-led crime in the state's history.
The Istanbul Narcotics Bureau, in coordination with the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Terrorism Financing and Money Laundering Investigation Bureau, detained 5 suspects in simultaneous raids across Istanbul, Izmir, and Tunceli.
The assets seized during the raids included 22 real properties, seven motor vehicles, and eight companies and partnership shares, totaling approximately ₺780 million.
The prosecution revealed that decrypted Sky-Ecc communications used by gang members provided evidence of various armed incidents and narcotics shipments exceeding one ton.
The network's international drug hauls were also mapped: 100kg of cannabis seized in Germany, 890kg of cocaine in Brazil, and 84.4kg of cannabis in Spain.
The organization was found to have tortured and murdered individuals in drug-trafficking disputes, collected regular payments for the organization and laundered proceeds through real estate and companies.
Of the 19 suspects identified, five were already imprisoned on separate charges. Among the remaining 14, eight are believed to be in Türkiye and six have been confirmed abroad. Interpol Red Notice proceedings have been initiated for the six foreign fugitives.
In Germany, NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul announced that the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club Leverkusen had been banned and dissolved after the raids.
Authorities searched locations in Leverkusen, Cologne, Dortmund, Duisburg, Bielefeld, Solingen, Oberhausen, and 21 other cities. During the operation, they identified 44 suspects ranging in age from 21 to 59 and seized assets valued at approximately €2.5 million ($2.93 million).
The 46-year-old president of the Leverkusen chapter was arrested in Langenfeld. The investigation focuses on charges of forming and belonging to a criminal organization, along with extortion and the cultivation of narcotics.
In his statement, Reul said: "Whoever makes their money with weapons, drugs and intimidation must reckon with the police standing in their bedroom in the morning."
He called biker-led crime "a danger to the security of our country" that "seeks to undermine the state's monopoly on violence."
The Hells Angels are NRW's largest motorcycle gang with 469 members across 29 chapters, having grown partly through defectors from rival group, Bandidos.
Arabaci, born in Cologne, was detained and later arrested in Türkiye in October 2025 and is currently held in Izmir, facing a 35-year sentence request.
The Istanbul prosecution identified him as the head of both the European and Turkish wings of the Hells Angels criminal network.
The organization's money laundering, torture and murder operations were financed through regular collection from members and routed through companies and real estate.
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