Rags to riches: The life and times of Comanchero boss Mark Buddle
Comanchero boss Mark Buddle’s upbringing was “gritty”, from housing commission to allegedly running a $40m drug syndicate. Read how Australia’s former most wanted man climbed the ranks.
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Bikie boss Mark Buddle’s rags to riches tale began in a housing commission home in Maroubra where he had a tumultuous upbringing that forged his hardman character.
He took up boxing and played representative rugby league before injury ended his fledgling career.
“You could call his upbringing gritty,” a source said on Wednesday.
In 2012, it was revealed that Buddle had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was on prescription drugs including valium.
He met his glamorous wife Melanie Ter Wisscha when she was going out with one of his mates and the couple has two daughters, both believed to be living in Dubai with Ter Wisscha’s sister Amy Ter Wisscha after Melanie was taken to a Instanbul detention centre in late July on visa issues.
As well as a tough reputation, Buddle has been described as being charming when he wants to be.
He took over as boss of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang at the age of 25 after the jailing of national president Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi over the death of Hells Angels associate Anthony Zervas during the infamous brawl at Sydney Airport in March 2009.
He dabbled in building and dealt in scrap metal as well as owning a tattoo parlour in Coogee.
Buddle, 37, is said to have adored his mother Lesley but by the time she died he was living overseas.
She had been in ill-health and had trouble walking but Buddle’s mates helped her with the shopping.
“He was very close to his mum, he loved her dearly,” a source said.
She died while staying with Buddle and his family in Dubai in 2018, a year after the death of his father, and he flew her body back to Sydney where he lashed out on a flashy $45,000 gold casket for her burial at Botany cemetery.
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Originally published as Rags to riches: The life and times of Comanchero boss Mark Buddle
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