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TARGETS: Detective superintendent Gary Richardson

AN ONGOING feud between two rival Turkish gangs in north London has raised the spectre of the possibility that well-known black crews may be forming alliances with such groups.

The Metropolitan Police said they are investigating how far these connections go, as they look into a rising number of shootings and murders said to be linked with ongoing conflict between the two crews, reportedly the Bombacilar and Tottenham Boys.

“Early intelligence indicates that there does appear to be some loose affiliations between individuals from black and Turkish criminal groups,” A Met Police spokesperson told The Voice.

“It is important to stress, however, that inquiries around this issue are at a very early stage. It would be inappropriate to be more specific at this time since this forms part of our investigation into recent incidents between two rival groups from the Turkish community.”

Just recently, Metropolitan Police commander Steve Kavanagh told the Observer newspaper there was evidence well-known black crews from Hackney, east London, could have joined forces with Turkish gangs to increase their influence.

“The expansion is to do with drugs and violence and kudos, and what opportunities they have to support each other. Those bonds are quite chaotic relationships but involve well known Hackney gangs, the usual suspects,” he told the Observer.

Duamutef Enankh, a black community activist and broadcaster based in Tottenham, north London, said in his experience the crews come together occasionally for mutual business interests.

“You normally find that the Turks and the so-called black gangs keep to themselves. It’s not necessarily gangs linking up. When they have mutual interests, they will do business. It’s the drugs business. There is no joining up because they are competing for the same business [which sometimes resulted in turf wars].”

He said the Turkish gangs issue should show the public, some officials and the media that they too often wrongly blame black youths for gun and gang-related problems.

“My concern is that the image we see out there is that it’s black youth causing these problems,” he said.

“That is not the case. There’s a youth gang problem, black or white. There are (also) Turkish parents, Asian parents who are worried about their children right now, and this seems to be missed.”

Enankh added: “There has not been a special task force to sort out the white gang wars happening in Liverpool, in Manchester, up north. There has not been a white version, if you like, of Trident. They are not rolling out police to go into their estates,” he said.

Enankh, who has worked in the UK and overseas, said the police must do more to get guns off the street. They must also do more to catch the gunrunners who either ship in guns from areas such as Eastern Europe or modify starter or replica guns into real weapons accessible to young people, he said.

“There are posters out there with young black girls’ hands on guns and young black guys’ hands on guns, but we don’t make them,” he said.

“The people who are doing this are not black. Most of those caught and convicted are Caucasian. We are not saying that our youth are not growing up too fast and that there are not problems out there, but why can’t you stop what is taking place at the source?”

Detective superintendent Gary Richardson, from Trident, which investigates all shootings and gun related murders affecting the black community, told The Voice the police are already targeting guns and gunrunners.

He said cops have gone after – and have also been getting stiffer sentences for - those who modify and traffic guns.

They include Grant Wilkinson, who was sentenced to 11 years in jail last August for converting replica guns into live weapons. His guns were linked to 50 shootings and eight murders, including that of teenager Michael Dosunmu.

Richardson said the police have also recovered 60,000 out of 90,000 MAC 10s that were on the streets.

“Where we have taken out the MAC 10s, we have seen from ballistic evidence that they are not being replaced,” he said.

He added the police have also had more success with convictions – with stiffer 25 or 30-year jail sentences – of people charged with firearms related murders. “We have been able to advertise the lengthy prison sentences that those individuals have got,” Richardson said.

Published: 02 November 2009
Issue: 1396

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