Tarek Zahed next Comanchero boss as he faces multimillion dollar bounty on his head

The veteran Comanchero is set to be the next head of the bikie gang — but he has also been warned by police he is the latest big name to have a massive bounty out on his head.

The likely next national president of the Comanchero bikie gang can be revealed as the latest Sydney crime figure with a bounty on his head.

Tarek Zahed, the current national sergeant at arms of the feared bikie gang, has been made aware by police over recent months that he is a wanted man – adding his name to a list of gangsters with targets ranging in price from $1 million to $7 million on them.

If Zahed, who was arrested by police on Friday, was trying to keep a low profile he didn’t tell close associates, who recently created a TikTok page on which behind-the-scenes photos of his life and bikie activities have been shared.

“Everyone’s talking about the whispers around Tarek, but no one knows who is behind it,” an underworld source said.

“Whoever is targeting him is pretty brave, because everyone knows how close he is to (Mark) Buddle.”

Photos of Comanchero OMCG sergeant-at-arms Tarek Zahed taken from a TikTok collage.

More pics of Zahed from the account.

Those links to international drug kingpin and Comanchero overlord Buddle may come in handy if Zahed is to make a push to take over the mantle of national president.

The position appears set to have to be vacated after the current boss Mick Murray was last week charged in relation to the 2019 murder of Mitat Rasimi.

Comanchero Motorcycle Club President Mick Murray. Picture: Ian Currie

Murray had been boss of Australia’s most powerful bikie gang for close to a decade, but is now behind bars on remand.

Zahed has long been under pressure from NSW Police over his influence on the Comanchero in Sydney and was made the subject of a Serious Crime Prevention Order (SCPO) last year, restricting his movements and associations.

The severity of the police crackdown on Zahed saw him initially travel overseas to Lebanon, before moving down to Melbourne.

Zahed’s move to Victoria – which has become known as “Switzerland” for Australian bikies – came because of the constant attention of police due to the strict SCPO limiting his associations.

Zahed leaves the Downing Centre in Sydney after his extradition back to NSW from Victoria over a parole breach in 2021. Picture: Christian Gilles

In Melbourne he can live a life of luxury and even attended the Australian Open men’s final in January.

But Zahed still has ties to Sydney and returned last month for Lone Wolf bikie boss Erkin Keskin’s funeral.

However that visit saw him arrested on Friday morning by officers from the NSW Police Criminal Groups Squad who allege he failed to notify police of his living arrangements while he was in NSW, as he must do under the SCPO. He is due to face court on those charges in June.

Whenever he enters NSW he must inform police, but he does not need to tell them when he leaves.

There have been rumours the strongly-built bikie has been causing problems in Victoria, but a senior NSW Police source said it was not known if this was behind the target on him.

“We don’t know who would want it to happen,” they said.

“Police have spoken to him and his lawyer – in that world someone’s always wanting to kill someone, they are always upset.”

With Buddle – who has been living in exile overseas since 2016 when he became aware he was wanted for questioning over the murder of a Sydney security guard – removed from the picture in Australia, Zahed has essentially been the face of the gang in NSW.

Now, photos posted to TikTok show him associating with other senior bikies, including Mick Murray.

They also captured his trip to Lebanon late last year that was heavily opposed by NSW Police, who feared if allowed to go overseas he would link up with Buddle and never return to Australia.

The Comanchero’s links to the Alameddine crime clan – who are at war with the rival Hamzy family – means they have further strengthened their hold over the drug trade across NSW.

Intercepted phone conversations between Bassam Hamzy and his brother Ghassan Amoun – who was killed in January, in the latest alleged bloody instance of the Hamzy and Alameddine feud – saw them discussing Zahed.

“It was highly likely Zahed was at risk from Hamzy and Hamzy’s associates in the community,” police said of the Hamzy and Amoun discussion from October 14, 2020.