Sydney underworld kingpin ‘blacklisted’ before alleged kidnapping, court told

Sydney underworld figure Masood Zakaria was effectively blacklisted by Australian Federal Police officers prior to his alleged kidnapping, a court heard this week. Prosecutors and defense counsel presented evidence suggesting AFP agents encouraged Turkish authorities to deport the fugitive weeks before local police arrested him at a seaside villa. This revelation forms part of an unprecedented legal challenge currently unfolding in the New South Wales Supreme Court. Zakaria’s legal team argues that his return to Australia in December 2023 was unlawful and constitutes an abuse of process. They seek to have all criminal proceedings against him, including serious murder charges, permanently stayed. The core of the argument rests on communications between federal and state police forces. In an email sent in late 2022 and read into court on Wednesday, then-AFP detective sergeant Scott Murphy addressed New South Wales Police investigators, referring to them as Zakaria chasers. Murphy stated that the AFP would engage with the Turkish National Police to ensure Zakaria, described as an alleged high-ranking member of Sydney’s Alameddine crime family, was blacklisted and removed from the country. He cited Zakaria’s activities as posing too high a risk for him to remain in Turkey. Based in the AFP’s Ankara command, Murphy outlined five specific options for removing Zakaria from Turkey, four of which explicitly involved deportation. At the time of that correspondence, New South Wales Police were exploring extradition possibilities. However, Australia lacks an extradition treaty with Turkey. State police have previously alleged that Zakaria fled Australia via a fishing boat after learning a warrant for his arrest had been issued. That warrant stemmed from an alleged plot to murder a gangland rival. One month after Murphy’s email, in January 2023, Turkish organized crime investigators detained Zakaria. He was arrested alongside other Australians and foreign nationals accused of committing crimes in their respective home countries. Further emails tendered to the court revealed additional dynamics in the negotiations. An AFP officer informed New South Wales Police counterparts that Australian authorities needed to provide value to the table to secure Zakaria’s deportation to Australia. The message warned that failing to offer such incentives risked Zakaria being sent to a different country entirely. This strategic maneuvering contrasts sharply with standard investigative procedures, according to Zakaria’s barrister, Murugan Thangaraj SC. During his opening address on Monday, Thangaraj stated that the AFP typically investigates sham payments, yet in this instance, the agency allegedly engaged in one for its own benefit. If Zakaria’s application succeeds, a range of offenses will not proceed to prosecution. These include the murders of Toufik Hamze, aged 64, and his son Salim Hamze, aged 18. Charges also include a conspiracy to murder gangland rival Ibrahem Hamze during the peak of an underworld feud in 2021. Trials for these specific offenses were vacated last year after Zakaria’s lawyers leveled kidnapping allegations against the AFP. The defense contends that the federal agency spent more than one million dollars to repatriate Zakaria. They claim the AFP chartered an Airbus A319 aircraft for the transport. Zakaria, now 31, is currently held in the Goulburn Supermax prison. His journey back to Australia involved a team of six former military contractors employed by Hart International, a multinational security and risk management firm. These contractors flew to Australia with Zakaria after he was escorted onto the plane by heavily armed Turkish law enforcement officials. Disputes arose regarding the treatment of the prisoner during transit. Under cross-examination, the chief executive of Hart International Australia testified that the company’s personnel did not restrain passengers. However, the court was subsequently shown images appearing to depict Zakaria wearing plastic restraints around his wrists. New South Wales Police Detective Chief Inspector Glyn Baker also took the stand on Wednesday. When questioned about the operations, Baker stated that he did not understand what the AFP was seeking to achieve. The testimony highlights a lack of clarity within law enforcement agencies regarding the methods used to retrieve the fugitive. The case has drawn significant attention due to the scale of the operation and the conflicting accounts of how a domestic criminal suspect was forcibly removed from a foreign jurisdiction without formal diplomatic channels. The legal battle centers on whether the actions of the AFP rendered the subsequent arrest and charging process invalid. Defense attorneys maintain that the state cannot profit from its own illegal conduct. They argue that the initial detention in Turkey, followed by the forced flight to Australia, violated fundamental rights. The court must now determine if the procedural irregularities are severe enough to stay the entire case. All parties await the judge’s ruling on this motion, which could set a precedent for future cases involving international rendition tactics by domestic law enforcement bodies. The outcome will dictate whether Zakaria faces trial for the 2021 murders or walks free due to the manner of his capture.