Agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have raided a Turkish cargo ship in New Jersey and arrested the ship’s first officer and chief engineer. The first officer Özcan Köse, 36, and his brother Oğuz Köse, 35, have been accused of human smuggling. According to a secret witness, the two have been taking 25,000 dollars each for smuggling and they will be tried in Pennsylvania.
U.S. agents have raided the Turkish cargo ship named “Niledutch Opresy,” which was at the Elizapeth Port, on Jan. 30. Köse brothers were arrested over “human smuggling to the U.S. and turning it into a trade,” alongside two other Turkish illegal passengers.
According to the criminal complaint filed and sent to Pennsylvania Eastern Region Federal Court by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Nicholas K. Feil, the smuggling network founded by Köse brothers surfaced after a Turkish secret witness, who was smuggled into the U.S. in May, 2013, was caught by the police in April, 2016 and became a confessor.
The secret witness said that he met Özcan Köse, then captain of a ship called “Cafer Dede,” via two Turkish citizens from Pennsylvania’s Leittown and Lancester, Adem and İzzet respecticely. He said that he met with Köse after sending a picture of himself to a person named Samet Öztürk from Facebook. Köse and the secret witness then met in the Aliağa district of the western province of İzmir.
Saying that he gave the smugglers 25,000 dollars, the secret witness noted that he passed through security control with a fake id and hid in the chamber of the ship for a total of 18 days during the trip.
The secret witness told the police that he and Köse talked a lot during the trip and that Köse told him taht he smuggled plenty of Turkish citizens to the U.S. and Canada the same way. He also said that Köse showed him the pictures of the people he smuggled.
Saying that he went out from the ship’s chamber to the engine room as the ship approached the U.S. waters, the secret witness said that Oğuz Köse helped him pass through U.S. security.
After landing, the witness met with Adem and İzzet in a parking lot and gave them 7,000 dollars, while giving Özcan Köse 18,000 dollars.
The secret witness said that a couple of months after the incident, he received a message from Özcan Köse from Facebook.
“Do you know anybody else who wants a trip to the U.S.,” he asked the witness and the witness’ brother, identified only by the initials as C.T., travelled to the U.S. the same way. According to the testimony, C.T. and two other Turkish citizens entered U.S. from Newark Port on Jan. 28, 2016.
The criminal complaint was prepared on Jan. 24, before the “Niledutch Osprey” arrived in the U.S. The complaint was then signed by Pennsylvania Eastern Region Federal Court prosecutor Andrea G. Folkes and Judge Carol S. M. Wells.
Because the smuggled Turkish citizens were caught in Pennsylvania, the case will be held in the Pennsylvania Federal Court. There was no mention of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), whose leader Fethullah Gülen is living Pennsylvania, in the criminal complaint.
Meanwhile, the cargo ship left New Jersey after a first officer and a chief engineer were sent to the ship from Turkey late on Feb. 1.
No legal procedures were carried out regarding the ship and the other crew on it, while the Köse brothers and two other Turkish illegal passengers are expected to arrive in court on Feb. 6.