‘I’m on the hit list in Sydney’s underworld war. This is what I do to stay alive – but getting shot dead is only a matter of time’: Gangland target’s life as a hunted man
Zaky Mallah, a Sydney media publisher and former terror suspect, says he is on a hit list in the ongoing gang war between the Alameddine crime family and the so-called Coconut Cartel, and fears being shot dead is "only a matter of time". NSW Police Raptor Squad detectives warned him in February that his SCN WorldStar news page had angered underworld groups who believed he was favouring one crime family's coverage over another's, prompting him to relocate and adopt extreme security precautions. The warning came after Mallah published leaked WhatsApp messages exposing a botched kidnapping, underscoring how the violent feud is spilling into public life and endangering bystanders and commentators alike.
Mallah, 43, now wears a GPS body camera so Raptor Squad can be alerted to his location immediately if he is attacked. He rose to notoriety in 2003 as the first person charged under Australia's anti-terrorism laws, later fought with the Free Syrian Army, and now runs the SCN WorldStar channel, which broke details of the February kidnapping and killing of 85-year-old grandfather Chris Baghsarian. The gang war has since escalated further, killing university student Marco Tapia, 23, and tradesman Joshua MacDonald, 40, in apparent cases of mistaken identity within two days of each other, bringing the total gangland death toll to six in the past year.
- Publisher Zaky Mallah says he's a target in Sydney's gang war.
- Police warned him after he exposed a botched kidnapping online.
- Gang violence has killed six people in a year, including bystanders.