Gang leader blown up before robbery

The brutal robbery is believed to have been planned for a long time. Alan and his colleague Timon (names have been changed) are sitting in their car one evening in mid-March 2020, driving to a restaurant in downtown Zurich. The two talk about the course of action: there should be at least three of them at the robbery. Timon was told to take a hammer to hit the victim’s shins and, if he resisted, his head. They would dispose of the hammer in a gully after the robbery.

The target: a rival shop owner and meat producer. There have been tensions between Alan and the entrepreneur before. Above all, they suspect a lot of money in the latter. A colleague had told Alan that the entrepreneur always took a black sports bag home from his shop in the Zurich agglomeration – filled with cash in the amount of tens of thousands to several hundred thousand francs. Towards the end of the month there is always the most money in the leather bag.

But Alan and Timon are not alone. Investigators have their car bugged and overhear their clandestine conversation. Not only that: the police officers are also monitoring the phones of Alan’s group, they are observing the men and tracking their GPS location data.

They also see how several men visit the entrepreneur’s place of residence, how they determine the getaway car and how they finally switch to tap-proof crypto cell phones shortly before the end of March.

On March 30, 2020, the police finally intervened and arrested those involved – including Alan. He then spent a year and a half in custody and since August of last year has been in early prison.

“You, I never wanted that”

At the end of May 2022, the 32-year-old Turk will stand before the judge at the Zurich District Court. Alan wears a gray hoodie, close-cropped hair and a stubble.

The public prosecutor regards the Turk, who is receiving an IV pension because of a lung disease, as the head of a criminal gang that tried to expand its sphere of influence in downtown Zurich with drug deals, attacks and the robbery at a meat producer. Alan, on the other hand, presents the whole thing in a much more harmless way.

The judge asks: “What do you say to the accusation that you had prepared a robbery?” Alan replies: «You, I never wanted that. I wanted to make him an announcement so that he wouldn’t provoke any further. But it was just a stupid saying.”

“And why did you deal in marijuana?” – «I wanted a side income.»

“They also found cocaine, around 50 grams.” – «I acknowledge that it was found in my basement. Someone gave this to me for safekeeping years ago. But it was long forgotten, I don’t want anything to do with cocaine.”

The judge raised another issue. “Are you in a Kurdish gang?” he asks. Alan says: «That’s a bit of an exaggeration. But yes, we were called Bahoz, but then we were dissolved.”

The Kurdish street gang caused a stir in Switzerland a few years ago with martial performances. In the middle of Langstrasse, dark-clad young men posed for the camera and blocked the road. Loud battle cries can be heard in videos taken by local residents.

In the middle: Alan. Investigators assume that he was one of the leaders of the group. Shortly after the spectacular performances, however, the spook was over: the Kurdish gang announced their dissolution – at least officially.

Restaurant owners should be evicted from premises

It remains unclear whether Alan also later resorted to the connections to other Bahoz members. Because it’s like so often with members of street gangs and rocker groups. Individual exponents can indeed be proven to have committed criminal offences. However, there is hardly any evidence that membership in a biker group or street gang played a role in criminal behavior. The only thing that is certain in Alan’s case is that he is involved in criminal business.

According to the indictment, in addition to the preparations for the robbery, the Turk is also responsible for marijuana shops, attacks with butyric acid on local bars and several attacks on an optician’s shop and a restaurant in Albisrieden. Sometimes Alan is said to have participated in the deeds himself, but mostly he gave the order to young accomplices, who finally carried out the deeds.

Alan admits some of the crimes in court. That includes several marijuana deals. In one case, he and another dealer handed over 4 kilograms of the drug in a trolley case to a buyer in Zurich-West, in another case Alan received around 5 kilograms of cannabis from a dealer in an underground car park in Basel. However, some of the deals went wrong, as Alan revealed in court.

Alan also takes responsibility for several attacks on an optician’s shop and a restaurant. He commissioned several young men to carry it out. They received a hundred francs if they smashed windows and front doors with cobblestones or hammers.

The plan: The operators should be forced to go out of business as a result of the attacks. Because Alan was planning a kind of kiosk in one place and a sports bar in the other, in which illegal betting should have been operated. How exactly he finally intended to implement this remains an open question.

The Turk, however, denies other crimes. Not just the robbery of the shopkeeper and meat producer, who is believed to have connections to a competing street gang himself. He also told the judge that he had nothing to do with some of the drug deals he was accused of and the extortion of a milieu operator.

Gang boss or show-off?

So is the 32-year-old a gang boss with ambitions or just a criminal informer? For the prosecutor, the matter is clear: “He was the mastermind in the background, who left the dirty work to his cronies.” He had shown a high level of violence and great criminal energy. And the prosecutor makes it clear: “The robbery just didn’t take place because the investigators intervened.”

The defense attorney presents the matter in a completely different way. He presents his client as the victim of an investigation that has gone completely out of control. “One hoped to find something in the murky water with enough effort.” That started with the trigger of the investigation.

The investigation got rolling with several butyric acid attacks in the red light district. Investigators also recorded a conversation between two men about a rape that Alan allegedly committed. However, the accusation was later not confirmed. From then on, the police and prosecutors were hot on his heels.

A clear case for the defender: You couldn’t just stop the exercise afterwards, but tried with immense effort to prove something to the Turk. Like the robbery of the businessman. However, this was just stupid chatter and macho behavior among men. There was a lack of concrete evidence of criminal preparatory acts. His client should be sentenced for the drug offenses and the idea of ​​​​the sports kiosk – but a conditional prison sentence is enough.

Impounded Ford Mustang to be sold

In the meantime, the Zurich District Court has made its decision. However, the decision of June 14 is only available in the dispositif, there is no justification yet. One thing is clear: the court found the Turk guilty of most of the charges – especially the main one, the planned robbery.

It sentenced the 32-year-old to four years in prison for multiple qualified violations of the Narcotics Act, criminal preparatory acts for robbery and multiple damage to property. In addition, the young man was expelled from the country for 10 years.

A beige 1967 Ford Mustang was also confiscated during the proceedings. The court will now sell the car by order and the proceeds will be used to cover the costs of the proceedings.

However, the last word has not yet been spoken in this case. The Turk can appeal the verdict. So did his colleague Timon, who, like several other members of the gang, was previously convicted. He is now awaiting appeal before the Supreme Court.

Judgment DG 210 041 of June 14, 2022, not yet final.