A $1m operation, a security firm and an alleged gangster fighting to walk free

After a week of evidence, the spotlight in an alleged Sydney gangster's contested extradition case has remained focused on Cyprus-based global security firm Hart International.

Hart is one of two companies the Australian Federal Police (AFP) paid $1.1 million to secure the return of Masood Zakaria from Türkiye in 2023.

Mr Zakaria was found in Türkiye after a year-long manhunt to capture and charge him with the 2021 murders of father and son Salim and Toufik Hamze.

The deaths were two of seven murders that took place during the Hamzy family's bloody street war with the Alameddine crime family.

Hart and the AFP's actions are being examined in the NSW Supreme Court as Mr Zakaria seeks to have his murder charges thrown out over claims he was illegally deported.

The AFP claims its actions in hiring a private security contractor to bring Mr Zakaria back were lawful, while his lawyers have compared the operation to "a kidnapping".

Should he be successful, the former fugitive will likely walk free.

Hart's history in the spotlight

Long before it was at the centre of an unprecedented court showdown between the AFP and an alleged double murderer, Hart had been at the centre of another controversy.

Hart International's CEO, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said in court this week the company had been accepting contracts from the AFP "for 26 years".

Two of those contracts, it emerged in court, involved the security giant also being paid to transfer two other Australian fugitives.

The two men cannot be identified, but the manhunt to track them down spanned the globe before they were eventually found in Türkiye.

But its name is also intertwined with another infamous moment: the 60 Minutes Beirut child kidnapping bungle in 2016.

The company was hired by Nine in the fallout from the saga, which saw star reporter Tara Brown arrested after a child was snatched from the streets of Lebanon as part of a story.

The incident was referenced indirectly by the Hart CEO, who used the public backlash as evidence of why the company's identity should be protected.

Another Hart contractor Robert Scheeres, who is now a Transport for NSW bureaucrat, made clear his dislike of the phrase "mercenaries" that has followed them in some media reports.

Tables turn as alleged gangster questions police

The case is also exploring a rift between the AFP and the NSW Police at the time.

The ABC previously revealed that documents in the case peeled back the curtains on the relationship, with messages showing AFP officers asking if NSW Police "were happy".

"Bloody should be after all this work and effort. Do t (sic) think they'd ever really understand what it takes from beginning to end," the officer wrote after Mr Zakaria was captured.

The senior NSW Police officers who gave evidence this week were careful to distance the force from the actions of the AFP and the deportation being scrutinised by the court.

The head of the investigation into the Alameddine crime family, Mark Conroy, repeatedly told the court NSW Police only ever considered legally extraditing Mr Zakaria.

NSW Police Organised Crime Directorate boss Grant Taylor also reiterated how the force was looking to extradite Mr Zakaria, not have him deported.

The issue also led to a terse exchange between Criminal Groups Squad Chief Inspector Glyn Baker and Mr Zakaria's barrister on Wednesday over an internal AFP email about the operation.

"You just don't want to answer that because it's a problem for you in this case," Murugan Thangaraj SC said.

A big admission

Just four days into the proceedings came the admission Mr Zakaria's lawyers have spent months fighting to prove.

Prosecutor Chris Tran conceded Mr Zakaria was illegally deported from Türkiye when he told the court on Thursday he was "prohibited" from being removed from the country.

The point is the key argument raised by Mr Zakaria's defence, that he had a legal right to remain in Türkiye before he was deported.

Some of the nation's most senior law enforcement figures are still yet to give evidence.

Among them are AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett and former commissioner Reece Kershaw.

Commissioner Barrett is being called to give evidence about her actions in her previous role within the AFP in relation to the operation.

Mr Kershaw is being called to give evidence about a $500 tea set gifted to him by Turkish authorities at the time Mr Zakaria was apprehended.