The Silivri prison complex on Istanbul's European side was the scene of a cunning break out in January, which was only noticed one month later before surfacing in the media on Tuesday.
Doğan Alagöz, a drug lord serving 12 years on charges of manufacturing synthetic drugs, managed to get himself released from prison through a faxed document from the Supreme Court of Appeals, before it was found out that the document authorizing his release was fake.
The convict was arrested in 2010 in a police raid in Istanbul's İkitelli district, at a warehouse converted into a drug lab. The operation ended up with the confiscation of 47,000 synthetic drugs and the arrest of 14 people. After a lengthy legal process, Alagöz was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2014 by Istanbul's 10th Heavy Criminal Court.
In January, a clerk at the court received an order of release via fax, bearing the signature of the Supreme Court of Appeals. The clerk called back the number where the document was sent and confirmed the release. He relayed the document to the Silivri prison and the unsuspecting prison officials released Alagöz.
One month later, Ahmet Aykuş, a prosecutor in charge of the prisons on Istanbul's European side was shuffling through release orders in his office when he noticed a glaring error. Alagöz was released on probation one year after he was incarcerated. Upon closer inspection, he found out the order was fake. An arrest warrant was immediately released for Alagöz, who currently remains at large while an investigation was launched on the court clerk and other officials who let Alagöz walk free from prison. Police are also searching for the convict's accomplices who arranged the fake fax. It is suspected that the drug lord's accomplices used a software to duplicate the legitimate fax number of the relevant department of the Supreme Court of Appeals.
Prisons in Turkey have tight security provided by gendarmerie troops to help prevent escapes, although escape attempts are not uncommon. In 1988, 29 convicts managed to dig a 60-meter-long tunnel underneath the Metris prison in Istanbul and escape.
