Finks v Comanchero: Gang recruitment war linked to wave of fires, millions of dollars worth of damages in Melbourne

The rival Finks and Comanchero bikie gangs are locked in a bitter Melbourne power struggle, with a wave of recent fires suspected to be linked to the conflict between the clubs.

The rival Finks and Comanchero bikie gangs are locked in a bitter Melbourne power struggle.

A wave of fires in recent months which have cost millions of dollars is suspected of being linked to conflict between the clubs.

The Herald Sun has been told one theory is that aggressive Fink recruitment of Comanchero members is behind the friction.

The practice, known as “patching-over”, is regarded as a provocative move in the outlaw motorcycle gang world.

Comanchero members are allegedly being poached by Finks. Picture: SAPOL

The recruitment war is allegedly driving the friction. Picture: NSW Police.

In the past, it has been carried-out without incident in cases where the club doing the patching has vastly more strength than its rival.

But the Finks and Comanchero are strong well-established gangs with money and muscle behind them.

Underworld sources say a number of suburban businesses have gone up in flames in the tit-for-tat arsons of recent months.

Both clubs are regarded as being in Australia’s “big six” outlaw motorcycle gangs, OMCGs.

The Comanchero have been hit hard in recent years by prosecutions of some high-ranked members, particularly in fallout from the sprawling Ironside police operation.

A number of senior members have been charged and some valued middle-ranking figures have departed on bad terms.

But they remain potent and are aligned with exiled crime strongman Kazem Hamad and another shadowy gangland figure operating from offshore.

Long-time office-bearer and businessman Bemir Saracevic is still influential in the organisation.

Prominent figure Tarek Zahed left Melbourne in 2022 and was shot later that year in a Sydney ambush which claimed the life of his brother Omar.

Zahed has been expected to be headed back to Victoria this year after his release from a NSW prison last Christmas.

The Comanchero clubhouse at Clyde North was firebombed last month though the motive is not publicly known.

The Comanchero clubhouse was firebombed last month. Picture: Supplied

The Finks are an expansionist club with strong representation in the outer suburbs and parts of country Victoria.

They were on the wrong end of a patch-over in 2013 when many of their members were forced into the Mongols, leading to lingering bad blood which had dire consequences in 2019.

Senior Fink Sione Hokafonu was shot late at night in that year outside the Fountain Gate Hotel following an altercation with a man in Mongol gear.

Police believe the near-fatal shooting of Mongol Rocco Curra at Bulleen later that year was fallout from that incident.

Investigators suspect a Finks member may have been the intended target of an ambush by two Mongols in which innocent fruiterer Paul Virgona was fatally wounded in November of that year.

Koshan Radford is believed to be still at the helm of the Finks.

Former Comanchero and Mongol Mark Balsillie came on board last year and is one of the club’s most senior figures.

A group of Finks — among them Hokafonu and Jesse Bonnici — were charged last year after allegedly riding their motorcycles along Southbank Promenade.

Counts of reckless conduct endangering serious injury and dangerous driving were later dismissed.

A number of members have been previously implicated in illicit tobacco sector arsons and standover work.

Murat Shomshe was recently jailed for lighting up tobacco shops at Moe and Croydon in late-2023.

Originally published as Finks v Comanchero: Gang recruitment war linked to wave of fires, millions of dollars worth of damages in Melbourne