Australia’s most wanted criminal Hakan Ayik arrested and $250m seized from 55 ‘suspicious persons’ in Turkey

Australia’s most wanted gangster, Sydney man Hakan Ayik, has been arrested in Turkey in a massive operation by anti-narcotic police which smashed an Australian Comanchero-based crime gang.

Alleged crime boss Hakan Ayik is arrested in Istanbul by members of the Turkish National Police.

Australia’s most wanted man, Hakan Ayik, and a group of ­alleged Australian gangsters have been sensationally arrested in Turkey, in what police say is one of the most significant strikes on transnational organised crime.

Thirty-seven people, including Ayik and a group of others aligned to the Comanchero outlaw ­motorcycle gang, were arrested.

The arrests are a major victory for Turkish authorities against ­alleged organised crime figures who had been seeking to develop safe havens in the country, and will send shockwaves through the global underworld.

Another suspect is taken down. Picture: Twitter

Former Sydney man Ayik, who has been on the run since 2010, was photographed by Turkish police handcuffed, bare-chested and on his knees, as police raided numerous apartments and vehicles, and seized $250m in assets from suspected gangsters, ­including houses, vehicles and company shares. A number of other Australians who had been on the run from law enforcement were also listed as having been ­arrested.

The names listed included Hakan Arif, who they said was the subject of an Interpol red notice from Australian authorities, Baris Tukel, who was wanted by authorities in the United States, and Erkan Yusuf Dogan, also wanted on a red notice in the US. Arif, known as Little Hux, is a close ­associate of Ayik, known as Big Hux. Tukel and Dogan are also known associates of Ayik.

The men were accused of being ringleaders of a criminal gang ­responsible for distributing the encrypted app AN0M, which they thought was secure but which the AFP and FBI secretly had ­access to.

Ayik, aged in his mid-40s, was one of the key promoters and ­“influencers’’ of the app, and was blamed by many in the underworld after more than 1000 people were arrested worldwide in 2021 when it was revealed police had been secretly copying and reading the 28 million messages sent on the app.

İSTANBUL’DA DÜZENLENEN KAFES OPERASYONU İLE AVUSTURALYA MERKEZLİ OLARAK KÜRESEL ÇAPTA FAALİYET GÖSTEREN VE LİDERLİĞİNİ HAKAN AYIK’IN (REİS) YAPTIĞI ULUSLARARASI SİLAHLI ORGANİZE SUÇ ÖRGÜTÜ COMANCHERO ÇÖKERTİLDİ❗️

OPERASYONLAR SONUCUNDA 3⃣7⃣ ŞÜPHELİ ŞAHIS YAKALANDI❗️

Avusturalya… pic.twitter.com/mk7h5V9zZ3

— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) November 2, 2023

A dual citizen, Ayik had changed his name to Joseph Reis and sought to avoid extradition to Australia by renouncing his Australian citizenship, hoping that Turkey would not hand over one of its citizens. His strategy appears to have failed.

The former Sydney man and Comanchero associate has been living the high life in Istanbul, conducting business from his Kings Cross Hotel in an upmarket area of the city, and associating freely with other Australians who were also wanted by the police.

A selfie of Hakan Ayik, right, and Duax Ngakuru at the Kings Cross Hotel in 2020.

“Gang leaders, along with Turkish-citizen organisation managers and members, as well as foreign national organisation members, come to our country and continue their criminal activities, and try to deliver the drugs they procured from South America to Australia, The Netherlands and Hong Kong via South Korea and South Africa, and commit them on a global scale,’’ Mr Yerlikaya said.

“It has been determined that they are trying to launder the ­income they obtained from crimes in our country.’’

He said assets worth a total of 4.5bn Turkish lire (about $250m) had been seized from 55 “suspicious persons’’ – comprising bank accounts, real estate, vehicles and shares in 22 companies.

“An operation was carried out for the crime of laundering ­assets,’’ he said.

Ayik during his time on the run in Turkey.

In a statement, the Australian Federal Police, which has been working for years with Turkish authorities, acknowledged the Turkish National Police “for undertaking one of the most significant operations targeting ­alleged transnational serious ­organised criminals, some of whom are accused of illicit drug trafficking to Australia and around the world’’.

“Turkey is a regional ­leader in the global fight against transnational serious organised crime,’’ the statement said.

“The AFP is posted in Turkey and has witnessed the Turkish National Police’s determination in disrupting, arresting and charging alleged organised crime figures.” The AFP, through its international command, continues to work with its international partners to combat transnational, serious organised crime.

“The AFP has provided support to the Turkish National Police through Operation Gain and the AFP’s post in Ankara.’’