From Riches to Rags in the business of Drugs- The story of Suleyman Ergun
Once upon a time, the world’s most prolific seller of ‘smack’- a multi-millionaire is today a penniless man. He ruled the world and was known by every personnel of the police community as the North-London Turk is today an unknown, evasive figure. What is the reason behind this?
Suleyman’s memories of dealing in drugs
Suleyman used to be a factory worker before he got into the business of drugs. Soon he had mansions that were filled with cash and unlimited links in the under-world. An exotic feeling of having 100 kilos of Heroin in the trunk of his car with police stopping beside him but nothing could stop him as without a thought he would shoot them and the reason behind becoming a drug dealer was neither the attraction of money nor the feeling of power but just the buzz.
At the age of 15, Suleyman was earning just 70 pounds a week but by 17 he started selling pot, coke and E and was earning 1000 pounds a week. He sold a couple of kilos of coke got from Colombia directly in the clubs and made it big. It was with his former brother-in-law Yilmaz Kaya and the Vulkan which were the God fathers of Istanbul that a network was made smuggling Heroin from Afghanistan right across Turkey into Europe. It was not easy as they had to bypass many crime families and gangsters in London but brave hearted Suleyman coordinated the hand-over and went all the way up to Liverpool in a car, coming back with black bean bags with lots of cash- 140000 pounds the first week, 100000 pounds the next, 68000 pounds after that and so on and so forth.
This money is used to be concealed in cereal packets and sent back to Turkey with the help of a former colonel of the Turkish Army who used to disguise himself as a Bone China Collector. The same system was applied all across Europe- Italy, Germany, Holland and Spain and Suleyman’s gang began to deal with the mafia and soon had their own oil tanker.
The end of the business
Suleyman was put under surveillance of the police because of one of his worker’s girlfriend who was a spy for the police. He got nicked and had to spend 14 years 9 months in jail. The entire gang got 123 years between them as punishments. It was in jail that he began to use heroin only out of curiosity and boredom. The heroin was smuggled into jail from Turkey by a girl who had a boyfriend in the prison. He knew how to hide the heroin and never got caught because he never caused trouble after taking it.
It was love that changed his addiction. Repeated treatments did not help but love did. He has turned a new leaf and in spite of being offered million pounds to start up again, which he could but he won’t. Suleyman is free today both from prison and from drugs. Penniless yet hopeful, he continues to live with his mother a decent life.