Career
Eventually relocating to northern Cyprus, he purchased a £300,000 villa near occupied Lapithos in the name of a Turkish Cypriot friend and, by 1998, his organization operated freely as the northern Cyprus government is recognized only by Turkey and thus has no extradition treaties with any other country. In April 2005, he was arrested by police in Sotogrande, Spain and on 2 April 2007 he was found guilty of running one of the most sophisticated and successful cocaine smuggling organisations in the world. On 2 April 2007, after an 11-year investigation, he was found guilty of running an international cocaine smuggling empire.
The following day he was sentenced to 30 years and according to his lawyers, had accepted he will die in prison.
