Security guru Tony Loughran lives in danger to hunt down mobsters or protect A-list celebs and royals

Tony Loughran has made a career out of running into danger. From war zones to hunting mobsters, the ex-Royal Marines commando medic is the security guru the big names turn to.

Tony Loughran has made a career out of running into danger.

From war zones to searching for drug kingpins, the former Royal Marines commando medic turned international risk consultant is never far away from conflict – and the occasional celebrity.

It’s a life he never imagined he would lead, but one he seemed destined to after 14 years in the UK military.

“I’ve actually fallen into this role ever since my military days, when I went out as a medic and I tried to save people in certain situations, and we did, on many occasions,” he said.

Tony Loughran left behind a military career to become a security and risk consultant.

When his military days ended, Loughran joined the BBC as head of security and safety.

His new career saw him overhaul the way journalists covered war, with state-of-the-art body armour, improved vehicles and hostile environment courses.

BANGLADESH TARGET

One of those places was Bangladesh, where a journalist he was working with was the number two target in that country for terror group al-Qaeda.

“Out the front [of the makeshift office], it looked like a travel agency, but behind it he was still able to perform his role as a journalist so this was an incredible feat for us to do this, and he and his family were so grateful because they were concerned he was going to be killed.”

Things ramped up further for Loughran when he moved to Australia in 2002, launching his own security consultancy company, ZeroRisk International. There were missions from Pakistan to Afghanistan and Ukraine, working with guides and translators, whom he credits with keeping him alive.

FALL OF AFGHANISTAN

In the case of his Afghani team, he was able to repay the favour when Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021.

“A few of them saved me from certain kinds of situations, so I had to get them out. That was my mission,” he said.

But it was incredibly tense – he still recalls the moment an informant told him his people weren’t going to be evacuated.

Tony Loughran with Afghan guards who were protecting a news agency compound and the first line of defence against any invading Taliban or ISIS attack.

“He said ‘we’re screwed. We can’t even get our own people out … I don’t know how you’re gonna do it’ … and that was the end of the conversation.”

He ended up leaning on 30 years of industry goodwill to save 12 families from the brutal new regime.

“I called on every single kind of contact that I had,” he said.

CELEBRITY PULL

That included a pilot friend of Hollywood superstar Matt Damon, who Loughran provided security for when he was shooting the movie Thor in Australia in 2021.

“They were the ones that actually steered us towards their pilot … who was the one that really helped us out because he had those connections, politically and also from a logistic point of view as well. So that’s the stuff that went on (in) the background,” he said.

Mr Loughran met Matt Damon when he was in Australia.

That celebrity contacts could help rescue people from the bloodthirsty Taliban was a stark illustration for him about the different worlds he mixes in.

“It’s all ends of the spectrum, from the entertainment side of it to people that were really in a desperate position.”

CHASING MOKBEL

Tony Mokbel. Picture: Greek Police/AFP

Loughran had spent some time in Croatia, and had contacts throughout the country, whom he would call upon to help track down Melbourne drug trafficker Tony Mokbel in 2007.

The tip was the underworld figure was “somewhere in Europe”.

“And they were given strong indicators that he was potentially in Croatia,” he said.

At the time, information was being shared between media outlets and Victoria Police.

“I didn’t really need to know anything about that, you know, all I needed to know, to be honest with you, was that I needed to resurrect the investigation team that I’ve used in the past and get into (the Croatian capital) Zagreb and actually start the actual ball rolling.”

His investigations – that were backed by a media organisation – zeroed in on financial transactions in Croatia and whether there was a money trail leading back to Mokbel.

“And we kept on just coming back with no, you know, negative, negative, negative from that point of view,” he said.

Mokbel was not located in Croatia, but that in itself meant the hunt could continue elsewhere in Europe.

ROYAL ASSIGNMENT

Before Loughran began readying journalists for war, one of his most memorable media assignments played out on a different battlefield – a royal one.

In 1995 he was called in for a “clandestine” meeting at White City, at the time a major BBC hub for programs like Panorama, where he met the show’s editor Steve Hewlett and reporter Martin Bashir.

They told him their bombshell news – they had secured a tell-all interview with Princess Diana.

Martin Bashir interviews Princess Diana in Kensington Palace for the television program Panorama. Picture: Getty

“And what I needed to do is really get my act together to pull together a security delegation,” he said.

Loughran was told he would get whatever resources he needed to ensure the security – and exclusivity – around the interview tapes and editing process.

Inside the Panorama offices, a military-like operation began as the world waited to hear what the Princess had said.

The rooms were swept for bugs and the BBC security team was temporarily replaced by Mr Loughran’s crew.

PROTECTING THE TALENT

Zero Risk, a book by Tony Loughran. Picture: Supplied

They also kept a close eye on Princess Diana’s home, Kensington Palace.

“I actually went out to circle around Kensington Palace and different surrounds as well to make sure, at the end of the day, where the team was going into and coming out of we weren’t going to be followed by anyone else,” he said.

Bashir also believed he was “under threat”.

“So we started to have protection for his family, and, on top of that, we were running dummy escorts with regards to making sure that Bashir wasn’t seen because, obviously, the pressure on his back was quite significant,” Loughran said.

He remembers the stress in the hours before the program was broadcast.

“Even when the clock started ticking, and we were about to go to air, you could feel this incredible, palpable buzz from everybody,” he said.

After the interview aired – breaking global ratings records – Loughran’s team cracked open a bottle of champagne.

Tony Loughran’s book, Zero Risk, is released by Echo Publishing on October 3