How four brothers led by ‘the Duke’ took over from the Krays to be UK’s No1 crime family thanks to TWO crucial links
LINKED to international arms deals, violent robberies and drugs, the Arifs filled the void left by London’s infamous crime families – the Krays and the Richardsons.
The gang’s tentacles even spread to legitimate business with an empire including a football club, pubs, restaurants and nightclubs across Southwark.
After feared crime boss Eddie Richardson was jailed for life in 1990 the Arifs were the new kings of The Old Kent Road.
Bermondsey, the heart of South London’s underworld, was their turf.
The Turkish Cypriot family were led by brothers Bekir, Mehmet, Dogan, and Dennis.
Dennis and Mehmet built up a reputation as serious armed robbers in the 1980s, hitting Securicor vans across the south east of England.
They were said to have made millions from armed robbery and had the full attention of Scotland Yard – who set up a special task force just to bring them down.
A cop who has spent half a lifetime on the family’s case said: “The Arifs are one of the most awesome gangs of villains ever seen in London.”
Eventually the once powerful brothers were handed lengthy jail sentences for a host of robbers and drugs offences – leaving them a spent force in the London underworld.
A man who knew the Arifs in the 90s said: “They were a heavy duty firm in their day, into armed robbery and drugs.
“But now they are a busted flush.”
MAFIA LINKS
Peter Walsh, author of Drug War: The Secret History said that the Arif family thrived because of their connections to the Turkish underworld.
This allowed them access to class A-drugs that other gangs could only dream of.
Their ability to use their native tongue to speak in code also allowed them to confuse law enforcement.
He said: “The Arifs have been among the most notorious criminal clans of the past fifty years, up there with infamous names like the Krays, the Richardsons and the Frasers.
“They had their fingers in everything from armed robbery and fencing stolen goods to drug trafficking and manufacture, and several of the brothers have served huge prison sentences.
“But those old London crime families have had their day. One thing that gave the Arifs an advantage was their links to the Turkish and Cypriot underworlds.
“The Turks have run the heroin trade in the UK for at least four decades and are far wealthier and more sophisticated than even the best-organised of Britain’s crime families.
“By controlling the route from the poppy fields of Afghanistan to the streets of Western Europe, sometimes with the collusion of powerful politicians, police officers and the Turkish army, they built up an unassailable power base that remains to this day.
“They are also hard to penetrate by traditional methods of law enforcement.
“They control things very tightly, it’s almost impossible to plant an undercover officer in their networks, and phone taps and electronic bugs are useless if you haven’t got someone who can accurately translate their often indecipherable local dialects.
“They are as powerful as the Italian Camorra or Mafia, or the Colombian cartels, but much less is known about them. And that’s just how they like it.’
KIDNAP PLOT
In the early 1980s Dogan Arif was arrested and charged in relation to a plot to kidnap Iranian diplomats and military officers.
The conspirators also planned to swindle the Iranian government in an arms deal, charging them £26m for 8,000 missiles that did not exist.
But the international conspiracy was smashed when armed police stormed two flats near Marble Arch in Central London.
The conspirators received hefty jail terms but Dogan Arif walked free after he was acquitted of conspiracy to imprison.
However, Dogan’s association with the international plot rich in intrigue only added to the family’s mystique.
BEAUTIFUL GAME
Dogan, well known in South London, played for semi-pro club Fisher Athletic FC before becoming their manager in the late 70s.
Dogan, who owned a jewellers, nightclub and restaurant, ploughed a fortune into the club to help its rise from obscurity during the 1980s.
Speaking to The Times in November 1988, he said: “I’ve nursed the club from nowhere to its present status, and the only reason I do it is for pleasure.
“I’ve had plenty of offers from other clubs but none offer me the involvement I have with Fisher.”
He said that it was his dream to see the club promoted from the Conference into the Football League.
In March 1990 Dogan Arif was convicted at Maidstone Crown Court of drug offences.
When the Arifs organised a family wedding in 1990 the guest list was said to be a “Whos Who” of London crime.
The Times reported that members of the Coleman, Fraser, White and Hiscock families all attended the West End do.
The reception took place at The Savoy and was reported to have racked up a £32,000 bar bill.
SECURICOR SHOOT OUT
But while some members of the gang liked to show off a playboy image – in reality they were a brutal crew.
Well known London villain Kenny Baker died when police opened fire during an armed robbery led by the Arifs.
Dennis and Mehmet Arif orchestrated the heist, when they planned to steal a Securicor van loaded with £1m in Woodhatch, Surrey.
The heavily armed crew struck as the Securicor van driver stopped for a coffee near Reigate in November 1990.
The Arifs aimed to steal the van, drive it to a secure location and then steal the cash.
Armed with a Brazilian-made revolver, a 12-bore Browning shotgun, a US self-loading Colt, an Enfield revolver and a Browning pistol, the four man crew wore bizarre masks and body armour.
But the job began to unravel when armed police swooped. Kenny Baker, who wore a Ronald Reagan mask during the raid, was told to ‘freeze’ by armed police.
Baker is said to have swung a gun towards officers. He was then shot dead.
Dennis Arif was handed a 22 year prison term and Mehmet was jailed for 18 years.
Anthony Downer, the Arif’s brother-in-law, was also locked up for 18 years.
Prosecutors advised the judge to provide the jury with protection due to the influence of the family.
Legal submissions to the judge stated that the Arifs had “considerable power and influence, in terms of money and muscle.
If the jury did not get protection the “Arif family or associates would attempt to interfere one way or another with the jury. They have done it before and are quite capable of doing it again.”
Sentencing the brothers Judge Heather Steel hinted at their sinister power when she said: “You are each dangerous, ruthless, greedy and clever men from whom society must be protected for a very long time.”
Dennis and Mehmet were sent to HM Prison Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight where they were said to exert considerable influence.
THE DUKE
In 1999 Bekir, known on the street as The Duke, was jailed for 23 years after police smashed a £12m heroin plot.
The court heard that Bekir, who passed himself of as a second hand car dealer, was a front for drug money.
He was convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin after a trial. Bekir was said to be worth millions and one of the wealthiest crooks in the UK.
Guy Stanton, who worked as a covert customs officer in London, met the Arif family in the 1990s.
Guy worked for the Beta Project, a special unit set up by HM Customs and Excise to infiltrate drug gangs.
The Betrayer, which tells the story of his years spent spying on drug gangs and cartel bosses, sheds a light on the Arifs.
The book reads: “I also met some of the notorious Arif family from the Old Kent Road area, who made their reputation as violent armed
robbers.
“One of them sent a lad to Amsterdam on a drug run while I was dealing with him and I overheard a conversation about it.
“I passed it back to the ID, who rang the Dutch. They located and searched a car we had identified and found seven kilos of smack in the boot.
“They then watched it until two men came along and they had two holdalls with another two kilos each.
“The Arif brother I was dealing with, supposed to be the toughest of them all, went berserk when he heard, but never suspected me – he thought another lad in his team had turned snitch.
“I didn’t do much with them though, as they were already under heavy police scrutiny.”
Guy also recounts how a member of his team called Big Pete once rubbed shoulders with the Arifs in a south London boozer.
The book reads : “A tale was told that he once went undercover into a rough South London pub run by the fearsome Arif brothers.
“They were holding a family celebration and when a bloke went past with a tray of sandwiches, Pete, feeling peckish, took half the tray.
“One of the party went over and asked him what the hell he was doing, but Pete looks so mean that even the Arifs let it go.”
The Betrayer, by Guy Stanton with Peter Walsh, is on sale now.
