Drug dealer The Duke jailed for 23 years

A TURKISH CYPRIOT member of a notorious London gangland family has been jailed for 23 years on drugs charges.

Bekir Arif, 45, was convicted of conspiracy to supply 100kg of heroin worth £12.5 million.

Arif, known as The Duke, told the jury during his trial that he was nothing more than a ‘Del Boy’ businessman, referring to the wheeler-dealer main character on the hit British TV comedy Only Fools and Horses.

He claimed he had no idea he had become involved in a drugs deal. But police cameras and listening devices had recorded hundreds of hours of conversations between Arif, his associates and a drugs supplier. The conversations were recorded in October, 1997, during a year-long police surveillance operation.

Passing sentence at the Old Bailey, Judge Geoffrey Grigson told Arif: “Your role was plainly that of principal and your conduct was as cynical and dishonest as has been your defence. In my view there is no mitigation.”

Arif was the third of seven brothers to receive major prison sentences. Dennis and Mehmet Arif are currently serving 22 and 18 years respectively for an armed robbery in 1991, the Evening Standardreported.

Bekir Arif also has convictions dating back to 1977 when he was imprisoned for his role in an armed robbery that resulted in the death of a security guard.

The Arif family settled in London’s Rotherhithe and in the Old Kent Road area in the 1950s. They built up a business around property, pubs and clubs. By the Eighties they had become one of the most feared gangs in south London.

The Standardsaid the godfather of the family is Dogan Arif, “said to favour attracting someone’s attention by sticking a gun down his mouth”.