Bikie boss Mark Buddle’s ex-wife Mel Ter Wisscha languishing in Turkish detention centre
Mark Buddle may be back in Australia, but his former wife Mel Ter Wisscha remains in Turkey in a detention centre, not knowing her ex has even been deported. Details revealed here.
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As Mark Buddle becomes accustomed to being back on Australian soil, his former partner Mel Ter Wisscha continues to languish in an immigration detention centre in Turkey.
Ms Ter Wisscha has received “no news at all” from the Turkish government about how long she will remain in custody since being detained by authorities as she left the seaside town of Bodrum last Friday, July 22.
The mother-of-two has spent the past week-and-a-half sharing a room with a stranger inside the detention centre, but sources close to her who have been supporting her in Istanbul say they are hopeful the return of Buddle will open the door for her to be released.
But they admitted Ms Ter Wisscha would not even be aware her former partner – who she has not seen since he moved to the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus in mid-2021 – was back in Australia.
“Mel asked me the other day had anyone heard from Mark, so she won’t even know he’s back in Australia at the moment, not until she calls me,” the source told The Daily Telegraph.
“They detained her because of her links to Mark, so now that he’s gone hopefully we’ll get some news today because until this point, all they are saying, even our lawyer is ‘there’s a process, there’s a process … it takes time’.
“Why can’t they let her out now that he’s back in Australia?”
“She’s still an Australian citizen and no one is helping her. She just wants to be with her family and her kids in Dubai, so surely they can let her know.”
Buddle, 37, landed in Darwin early on Wednesday morning after being deported by Turkey overnight.
The self-proclaimed international commander of the Comanchero bikie gang was immediately taken into custody by the Australian Federal Police on charges linked to importing 160 kilograms of cocaine into Melbourne in mid-2021.
Incredible footage from the moments after his arrest show Buddle being marched backwards in handcuffs by AFP authorities.
Buddle faced Darwin Local Court on Wednesday where his extradition to Victoria was granted.
Ms Ter Wisscha and Buddle’s kids are understood to currently be in Dubai where her family is looking after them.
“She’s essentially in a jail, she gets a bed and has a roommate,” the source close to her said.
“The first day I saw her she wouldn’t stop crying, but now she’s just frustrated, she just wants to get out.
“Now she’s just asking ‘are the kids are OK?’ and ‘what are they doing?’, just really normal conversations.
“But the issue is we just have no idea around how long it will be. Will it be a week, a month, three months, no one knows.”
The Daily Telegraph has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade about Ms Ter Wisscha’s situation.
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Originally published as Bikie boss Mark Buddle’s ex-wife Mel Ter Wisscha languishing in Turkish detention centre
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