Drug lord Hakan Ayik moved ice lab to India

A NSW drug lord hoodwinked Indian government officials into setting up a pharmaceutical "super lab" for criminal syndicates across the globe.

A NSW drug lord hoodwinked Indian government officials into setting up a pharmaceutical "super lab" that produced mass quantities of ephedrine for criminal syndicates across the globe.

The Sunday Telegraph has learned three Federal Police officers were sent to India in 2010 to close the operation.

The laboratory had been set up by drug kingpin Hakan Ayik, 33, who has gone into hiding, possibly in eastern Europe - he was last sighted around the Mediterranean.

He is one of NSW's most wanted men and is being sought over the alleged supply of 224kg of heroin in Sydney.

Ayik is an impeccably connected criminal figure and close associate of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang.

The Sunday Telegraph has been told Ayik and his cohorts - including an Iranian drug cook - were given authority to produce commercial-grade ephedrine by exploiting "lax laws" in India.

To keep the ruse under wraps, large amounts of ephedrine were supplied to legitimate pharmaceutical outfits - and the rest to criminals.

Ephedrine is the main component used to make "ice".

Australian police oversaw the Indian investigation, which ended in a number of arrests, amid fears that corrupt local officials could compromise it.

The super lab was shut down, but Ayik disappeared.

An AFP spokeswoman confirmed it "co-operated with a number of law enforcement agencies, both in Australia and overseas, in relation to Operation Hoffman".

One source said it was unlikely Indian officials knew the lab was used for crime. Ayik's brother Erkan will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty to supplying "80 blocks" of heroin from Asia.