Pressure mounts on Aussie fugitives in Turkey after Mark Buddle deportation

Australian bikies, drug smugglers and terrorists come under intense pressure following Turkey’s decision to deport Mark Buddle.

Hakan Ayik.

Law enforcement has its best chance in a decade to bring fugitive drug smugglers and terrorists to justice in Australia after Turkey’s decision to deport former bikie boss and alleged organised crime tsar Mark Buddle.

The decision by Turkish authorities to not just deport Buddle but to lock him up and then physically put him on a plane and fly him to Australia has likely sent up to a dozen Australians currently hiding out in Turkey into a panic.

Until now, the group led by drug kingpin Hakan Ayik has lived a life of luxury in the city of Istanbul, believing Turkish authorities would never extradite them and they were effectively out of reach of Australian law ­enforcement.

Ayik, a Comanchero associate and Australia’s most wanted man, has been hiding out overseas for 12 years, and is top of the Australian Federal Police’s list of targets to be brought back to Australia and charged.

A dual Turkish-Australian citizen, he has changed his name to Joseph Reis and renounced his Australian citizenship in a bid to avoid justice, believing Turkish authorities would be reluctant to extradite one of their citizens.

AFP Assistant Commissioner, Crime Command, Nigel Ryan said the decision by Turkey to deport Buddle “most definitely’’ meant Ayik was in play.

“I can say that the individual that you’re referring to, there is an Interpol red notice and an Australian arrest warrant in place for that individual, and it’s just a ­matter of time before we get him,’’ Mr Ryan said.

The AFP believes Ayik, who like Buddle spent time in Cyprus, is behind a criminal syndicate smuggling enormous quantities of drugs into Australia.

As well as hiding out from law enforcement, he is in hiding from other criminals who were caught up in the FBI/AFP police sting ­operation using the encrypted app AN0M.

Ayik had encouraged other criminals to use the app, not realising it was a Trojan horse and the police were secretly copying and reading the 28 million messages exchanged on it.

Other Australians and associates of Ayik hiding out in Turkey are Baris Tukel, an ex-Comanchero sergeant-at-arms accused by the FBI of being involved in distributing the AN0M app.

Duax Ngakuru, the former Comanchero Australian president, is also hiding out in Turkey, while his close relative, Shane Ngakuru, in Thailand, is also ­accused by the FBI as being ­involved with the app.

Hakan Arif, left, and Hakan Ayik in Dubai.

Other Australian associates of Ayik who are staying offshore in Turkey include Erkan Yusef Dogan, thought to be Ayik’s nephew, and Hakan Arif.

The group was mostly believed to be living in and around the up-market Istanbul suburb of Bestikas, close to Istanbul’s ­famous Bosporus waterway, where Ayik has been running the Kings Cross Hotel.

Members frequent the Zorlu Centre, a posh shopping mall 3km from the Kings Cross Hotel.

Tukel and Ayik are accused by the FBI of being distributors and “influencers’’ who encouraged others to use the AN0M app.

Asked specifically about the fugitive group in Turkey, Mr Ryan said: “We are working very closely with our Turkish counterparts to try to bring those people back here to face justice.

“I have to say the Turkish authorities are regional leaders in relation to the fight against organised crime and we thank them for their efforts.”

He insisted Turkey had made an “independent decision’’ to deport Buddle, despite the decision coming just when Australia had formalised an arrest warrant and an Interpol red notice.

Other Australians of interest who could also face return include convicted terrorist and Islamic State member Neil Prakash, last known to be in immigration detention in Turkey.

Turkish courts refused Australia’s application to extradite the Melbourne man to Australia to face charges. He was sentenced to seven years’ jail in Turkey but released late last year and taken into immigration detention.

Australia is appealing rejection of the extradition request.

Former Melbourne woman and Islamic State supporter Zehra Duman is also in Turkey. A jihadi bride who actively supported Islamic State and urged attacks on non-believers, she escaped the al-Hol detention camp in northeast Syria and was arrested at the Turkish border.

After being convicted of terrorism offences in Turkey, she was released on parole to live in the community with her children.

Her Australian citizenship has been revoked but it seems almost certain the High Court will rule in coming months that most citizenships revoked in similar circumstances must be returned.