Two brothers, who are part of a notorious criminal group referred to as 'The Family', are fighting to hold on to a luxury house years after they were locked up.
Mehmet Baybasin, however, was not the most prolific gangster in his immediate family. His older brother, Huseyin Baybasin, known as 'the Pablo Escobar of Europe' is serving a life sentence in the Netherlands after convictions for drug trafficking and conspiracy to murder in 2001. The brothers were reportedly so notorious in the Kurdish and Turkish communities of North London that they were referred to simply as 'The family', according to reports from the time. Courts have heard Abdullah recruited young thugs known as 'The Bombacilar' [bombers] to extort businesses in the area, who were also involved in deadly clashes with rival gangs.
Officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency listened in on calls between Taylor and Baybasin as they talked of ‘36s’ and buying ‘200 bits’ . According to High Court judge Mr Justice Baker, Mehmet's share in the property is worth around £330,000 as determined during a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing after his conviction.
Justice Baker highlighted that the CPS appeared to have adopted two opposing conclusions when acting for the Crown in the POCA case against Mehmet, and acting as an agent for the Dutch authorities in their case against Huseyin.