Australia's most wanted men - alleged drug boss Hakan Ayik, also known as the ''Facebook gangster''

Australia's most wanted men - alleged drug boss Hakan Ayik, also known as the ''Facebook gangster'' - has fled custody in Cyprus after being briefly detained by border police.

Despite the setback, the Australian Federal Police managed to land a blow against the Ayik syndicate, with Hong Kong authorities arresting his Chinese business partner, Man Kong Ho, while he was visiting a relative in hospital in September. The AFP and the Attorney-General's Department are seeking to extradite Ho to face charges over the alleged importation of 50 kilograms of the drug ice.

Ho and Ayik are thought to be linked to several drug importations into Sydney and Melbourne in the past three years. Ayik has been on the run since August, when New South Wales police issued a warrant for his arrest after Operation Hoffman.

Advertisement: Story continues below Operation Hoffman - a landmark investigation led by the Australian Crime Commission in co-operation with most federal and state policing agencies - temporarily shut down the local end of an international drug ring linked to the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle club, Chinese triads, corrupt officials and waterfront workers.

The operation led to the arrest of senior bikies and Chinese organised crime figures, but Ayik managed to avoid arrest by remaining overseas.

Criminal sources said Ayik evaded capture at the border between Greek and Turkish Cyprus, either by bribing police or fleeing border officials who fired at him but missed.

The sources said Ayik was on the move and trying only to visit countries with which Australia has no extradition treaty, such as Turkey.

Ayik is a long-time associate of outlaw bike club the Comancheros and a high school friend of its national president, Duax Hohepa ''Dax'' Ngakuru. The Comancheros are suspected of running a drug ring for Ayik and several of its senior members are facing drugs charges.

Ayik is known as the ''Facebook gangster'' due to his propensity to document his activities on social networking sites. While under investigation, he posted two travel videos on his Facebook site, including one that showed him meeting Ho and Ngakuru in Hong Kong. The video also showed him in expensive cars and partying with prostitutes.

At a recent organised crime conference, the chief executive of the Australian Crime Commission, John Lawler, said Ayik ''represents much of what we in law enforcement are facing today … criminals focused on amassing great wealth who are technologically savvy, highly mobile and frequently difficult to track''.