NEW YORK (CIHAN) - Several Turkish were arrested in US New York City on charges of money laundering and organized crime, local New York papers are reporting on Wednesday.
The arrested Turks are accused of laundering $28 million by using accounts of gas stations on Long Island.
Hundreds of federal police on Monday raided dozens of Long Island gas stations which are allegedly controlled by a loosely connected network of Turkish organized crime figures.
The ring concealed tens of millions of dollars in receipts and illegally smuggled workers into the country, the New York Newsday paper quoted the security officials as saying.
The police also seized several current bank accounts containing $2.2 million at several branches on Long Island used by the gang, according to reports in the local media.
Turhan Ak, 44, Ahmet Cayan, 32, Adil Bayat, 41, Yaha Bayat, 39 and Orhan Alparslan were arrested while Sukru Akkaya, 42 and Mustafa Catalbas, 41 are still at large, Newsday reported.
The security officers said that the operation was a big step in shutting down an organization that has been responsible for smuggling immigrants into the country and collecting millions of dollars illegally.