Comanchero bikie gang leadership in limbo after Tarek Zahed shot
The Comanchero bikie gang’s leadership remains uncertain with the man anointed to be boss fights for his life after being shot 10 times.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Tarek Zahed has miraculously survived the night despite being shot 10 times outside a Sydney gym, as the Comanchero bikie gang brace for an overhaul of their leadership hierarchy.
Zahed is suspected of being the main target of the drive-by shooting at Bodyfit gym in Auburn just after 8pm that claimed the life of his brother, and fellow Comanchero bikie, Omar.
He is in hospital in a stable condition.
The ambush came only a week after The Daily Telegraph revealed a bounty had been placed on the head of Tarek, making him the latest gangster told by NSW Police he was a marked man.
Adding to the intrigue around the attack on Tarek is widespread recent speculation he was set to become the new national president of the Comanchero.
The recent arrest of Melbourne-based president Mick Murray on murder charges and the extended time he will likely spend on remand, and away from the club, saw an opening at the top of the bikie gang.
Having long been the national sergeant-at-arms and with close ties to both the Melbourne and Sydney chapters, Zahed was a likely choice.
The likely backing of exiled drug kingpin and former Comanchero boss Mark Buddle would also have helped his case.
But with Tarek’s future now unknown, the power vacuum at the top of the Comanchero is once again open.
Although they are not the biggest bikie gang in terms of membership, many view the Comanchero as the nation’s most powerful.
Their enormous involvement in the nation’s drug trade ensures a continued income and influence.
In Sydney in particular they had created an alliance with the Alameddine crime clan that saw them control drug trafficking and dealing routes, and ensure protection for their crews.
But by dominating the NSW drug market they only added to the possible list of people who would target them, with police going to have to sift through a long list of names and enemy crime gangs in their hunt for the gunmen who attacked the Zaheds.
More Coverage
Third charged over alleged $6m deceased estate fraud
Detectives have made another arrest as they probe the allegedly fraudulent access of deceased Illawarra man Marino Mikleus’ $6m estate.
Man breaks down after allegedly stalking ex, breaking front door
A Sydney man who allegedly terrified a woman when he showed up at her regional NSW home in the middle of the night broke down in court after he was denied bail.