Comanchero kingpin Mark Buddle: Fugitive without a warrant raises questions
Why there was no arrest warrant ready for the self appointed Comanchero bikie boss, suspected of being involved in murder and mayhem for over a decade, is a mystery to many.
National
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News.
To many it makes no sense that Mark Buddle can be called Australia’s most wanted man when no one in the country has an arrest warrant for him.
His arrest in northern Cyprus took both state and federal police forces by surprise to the extent Sydney’s underworld knew well before them.
Why was there no arrest warrant ready for the self-appointed Comanchero bikie boss suspected of being involved in murder and mayhem across the country for over a decade?
For the past five years he has featured at the top or close to the top of a list referred to as an APOT or an Australian Priority Organisation Target, a list of 15 or so people classified by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission as major organised crime threats to the nation.
NSW Police want to question him over his alleged involvement in an armed robbery where security guard Gary Alibon was shot dead in 2010 but admit they don’t have enough at the moment to charge him.
Another senior source said it’s believed that since he fled Australia, the federal police have gathered more evidence.
He believes police may have left it too late to get a warrant.
“On the surface it seems like the cops may have missed the boat,” he said.
“Even if they went to a magistrate now, I doubt it would help much. If it’s signed after he is arrested any decent lawyer here and overseas will say it was obviously fabricated and the client pursued after the fact to get him.”
A leading criminal lawyer agrees.
“Everyone knows the Feds and NSW cops have been working on him for years and I’m buggered if I know why they haven’t got enough of a brief on him to get a warrant,’’ he said.
More Coverage
Originally published as Comanchero kingpin Mark Buddle: Fugitive without a warrant raises questions
Newspoll: Coalition takes lead over Labor
The Coalition now leads Labor on a two-party-preferred basis for the first time since the May 2022 election in a boost for Peter Dutton as Anthony Albanese’s approval ratings hit a new low.
$95m bid to stop bird flu ravaging Australia
Australia is the only continent yet to detect the highly pathogenic strain which has caused havoc across the globe.