The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and police have arrested a 63-year-old Moldovan gang leader wanted internationally for 10 planned murders and 11 attempted murders, in an operation in Istanbul’s Fatih district.
Iurie Radulov, known by the nickname “Babior,” meaning “Beaver,” was detained at a safe house in Fatih on Oct. 5 after Turkish intelligence and Organized Crime Department officers tracked his whereabouts in Istanbul.
Radulov had been serving a life sentence in Moldova before being released on parole and leaving the country. He was subsequently placed on an international wanted list.
His release triggered a political controversy in Moldova after a new law allowed prisoners serving life sentences to become eligible for release after completing two-thirds of their sentences.
The lawmaker who proposed the changes, Olesea Stamate, was expelled from Moldova’s ruling party following public backlash, while the director of Rezina Prison, where Radulov had been held, was dismissed.
Radulov had been convicted of 10 murders and 11 attempted murders linked to a contract-killing network he allegedly established in the 1990s across Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria.
His ability to evade authorities for years earned him the nickname “Babior.”
Turkish authorities located Radulov after he left Moldova and was sought internationally, eventually carrying out the operation that led to his arrest in Istanbul. The case remains under investigation by Turkish authorities.
