Ex-soldier uncontactable ahead of accused gangster's deportation hearings
Former soldier Nathan Heckel is set to be a key witness as alleged Alameddine crime family boss Masood Zakaria attempts to have murder charges dismissed.
An ex-SAS soldier who helped deport an accused Sydney gangster is now uncontactable, according to court documents. Masood Zakaria, a 33-year-old alleged Alameddine crime family boss, was deported from Turkey in 2023, but his lawyers are challenging the extradition's legitimacy. Nathan Heckel, an ex-SAS officer connected to the case, is a key witness in Zakaria's attempt to have murder charges dismissed.
However, Zakaria's legal team claims that Heckel has become uncontactable, having vanished from online profiles and being possibly in Iraq on business. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) paid over $1 million to the private security firm Hart International to escort Zakaria back to Sydney, but Zakaria's lawyers dispute this was a legal extradition.
If successful, the court's decision could grant Zakaria the first murder acquittal in New South Wales due to unlawful law enforcement actions.
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