A Turkish gang leader, who is known as one of the most prominent drug traffickers in the UK, managed to avoid being sent back to his home country based on human rights considerations.
The 70-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been jailed for 16 years for flooding the UK with heroin.
Yet an immigration tribunal heard that sending him back to Turkey would breach his right to a family life — a claim backed by the UN Refugee Agency.
His gang was said to be behind 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
The tribunal also heard he had an extra-marital affair in Turkey with a woman he later married.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick called the move a “sick joke”.
He added: “Our human rights laws have been turned against the British public.
“How can anyone defend this?”
Earlier in the month, The Sun revealed an illegal immigrant, who had already been deported five times, had been found living in the UK again.
Lithuanian Audrius Verkauskas was first removed in November 2015.
But he had continued to return and was also deported in February 2019, June 2021, May 2022 and August last year.
Police arrested him for unrelated matters in April in Peterborough — and then discovered he was in breach of his deportation.
Verkauskas, 44, was jailed for two years at the city’s crown court after pleading guilty to immigration charges.
He will be deported for a sixth time once he has served his sentence.
