Crime boss safety threats forced AFP officers out of Türkiye

Two Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers had to be relocated from their posts in Türkiye over safety concerns after targeting a high-profile Australian crime boss.

The former fugitive, who cannot be named, was considered one of the nation's most-wanted men and a major global crime figure when he was eventually captured in 2022.

According to a statement tendered in an unrelated case, two officers posted to Ankara had to be temporarily relocated after working to capture the underworld identity.

"AFP has received information raising concerns around safety and security of AFP members at Ankara Post," Superintendent Marie Andersson said in a statement.

"An assessment of further information led to the decision to relocate two AFP members … and their families out of Türkiye until a security assessment and implementation of recommended security measures could be conducted."

The AFP officers spent six weeks in another country before it was deemed safe for them to return to their overseas post in Türkiye.

The nature of the threats they faced after the crime figure was deported to Australia was not elaborated on.

The operation to return the crime figure back to Australia came at the height of the AFP's focus on an offshore crime group dubbed the "Aussie Cartel".

The group had set up shop in Istanbul and spent the better part of a decade on the run from Australian authorities.

Police suspect the "cartel" is responsible for large-scale drug shipments into Australia and operates a network of contacts from Asia to Europe.

Documents reveal cartel's Istanbul hideout

The statement and its details emerged as part of accused Sydney gangster Masood Zakaria's attempt to have two gangland murder charges thrown out of court.

Mr Zakaria wants his case dismissed over claims he was illegally deported to Australia when the AFP paid Skytraders and Hart International $1 million to return him in 2023.

Superintendent Andersson was called to give evidence by Mr Zakaria last week over her role in his deportation and denied any wrongdoing in the operation to return him in 2023.

Her statement, tendered to court this week, has provided a glimpse into the milieu of Australian fugitives who called Istanbul home at the time.

At the head of the criminal conglomerate, Superintendent Andersson said, was former Sydney bikie Hakan Ayik, who is facing the prospect of spending 262 years in a Turkish jail after his arrest there.

The ABC previously revealed Ayik and his cousin Hakan Arif led the global crime syndicate, which was worth billions, while in hiding from police in Istanbul.

Superintendent Andersson's statement claimed that, at the time, the pair were among several "high value targets" for the AFP in Türkiye.

"We suspect most of these organised crime targets were associates of or had been provided contact points to the Hakan Ayik and Hakan Arif network in Istanbul," the statement said.

Lawyers for the AFP initially fought to keep the details about the pair secret, but on Thursday they abandoned their request for a non-publication order.

Hakan Ayik's criminal empire eventually came crashing down in 2021 when he was revealed to have unwittingly passed on AFP-bugged phones to associates.

The operation, dubbed the AN0M sting, was followed by his arrest by Turkish police on drug and money laundering offences.