A gang leader believed to be responsible for the drive-by shooting of a 9-year-old girl has been fatally shot
The boss of the Tottenham Turks, Izzet Eren, 41, was hit seven times as he sat outside a cafe in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau on Wednesday amid fears it was a tit-for-tat revenge attack
The leader of a UK gang suspected of being behind a drive-by shooting that left a nine-year-old girl fighting for her life has been gunned down in Moldova.
Izzet Eren, 41, was hit seven times as he sat outside a cafe in the capital Chisinau on Wednesday amid fears it was a tit-for-tat revenge attack.
The boss of the Tottenham Turks organised crime gang was wearing shorts, sliders and a baseball cap when he was killed by a gunman riding an electric scooter and wearing a helmet. Eren died instantly after three of the bullets hit him in the head.
Top row left to right: Ozcan Eren, Izzet Eren and bottom row left to right: Nathan Mason and Gokay Sogucakli ( Image: PA)
British detectives are understood to be investigating a possible link to a shooting in Dalston, north east London, in May when the girl was hit along with three men, aged 26, 37 and 42.
One target was a suspected member of the Hackney Bombers, who had been previously shot in the neck by a possible Tottenham Turks member.
The two gangs have been involved in a long running feud which has reportedly led to more than 20 murders and a series of kidnappings as the rivals fight for control over the drugs trade.
The targeting of such a senior member of the Tottenham Turks this week has sparked fears of the violence escalating. A source said: "This is thought to connect to the shooting in Hackney. The concern is that it’s all going to kick off now with retaliation expected on the Hackney Bombers."
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said on Thursday: "The Metropolitan Police are aware of reports of the death of a 41-year-old man in the Moldovan capital Chisinau.
"At this time the name of the man who died has not been officially confirmed by Moldovan authorities."
Eren was jailed in London for 21 years in 2015 for being armed with a submachine gun to murder a rival. He was transferred to a prison in Turkey in August 2019 to complete his sentence but escaped a month later.
Scotland Yard’s specialist international manhunt unit traced Eren to Moldova, where he was arrested in 2022. He had reportedly entered via the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria via Ukraine.
Met Commander Fiona Mallen said at the time that extradition proceedings were under way but Eren was reportedly later released. He is understood to have been involved in masterminding his crime group’s operations in the UK while on the run.
One of his foot soldiers was shot dead by police in 2015 outside Wood Green Crown Court, north London during a bungled prison break.
When armed officers swooped, Jermaine Baker, 28, of Tottenham, was shot dead. Eren had arranged for the gang to spring him from the van. His cousin Ozcan Eren, 32, was jailed for the attempt to free his relative.
The Interior Ministry of the ex-Soviet state told the Reuters news agency that a convicted Turkish drug dealer seeking asylum was shot dead while sitting on a cafe terrace in Chisinau’s stylish Riscani district.
The attacker escaped. Police chief Viorel Cernauteanu told national radio that the shooting bore the hallmarks of a highly professional attack.
Footage from security cameras of the suspected assailant, wearing a helmet, were released by police. The Interior Ministry said the victim, who they did not name, had featured on an Interpol wanted list on suspicion of trafficking heroin. His asylum application had reportedly been rejected, but legal proceedings had not yet been completed.
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