{
  "id": 18265839,
  "title": "Security contractor denies alleged gangster was zip-tied during flight",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/security-contractor-denies-alleged-gangster-was-zip-tied-during-flight",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-05T06:35:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ABC News AU",
    "slug": "abc-news-au",
    "url": "https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-05/masood-zakaria-permanent-stay-application-afp/107350620"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former soldier Nathan Heckel, part of a team involved in the $1 million operation to return alleged Sydney crime boss Masood Zakaria to Australia, denied that Zakaria was zip-tied during the flight. During a hearing at the Supreme Court questioning the legality of Zakaria's 2023 return, Heckel stated that he and other security personnel did not zip-tie the accused gangster. Zakaria's lawyers allege that he was kidnapped by Skytraders and Hart International, companies paid $1 million by Australian Federal Police (AFP) for the extradition operation. The flight that delivered Zakaria back to Australia in December 2023 had six black-masked security personnel, and it was later discovered that their restraints were removed while the plane was in the air. This issue is vital in Zakaria's attempt to have the charges dismissed. Prosecutors admitted that Zakaria had a legal right to remain in Türkiye when the AFP-paid contractors picked him up in Istanbul. The AFP's actions in returning Zakaria have implications for other prosecutions, including those of an alleged ISIS terrorist and an accused drug trafficker, who were also transported from Türkiye to Australia using the same flight charter company and security firm.",
  "summary": "One of seven masked security contractors at the centre of an alleged Sydney underworld figure's contested extradition denied the accused murderer was illegally restrained.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}