Mark Buddle: Bikie boss in Turkish prison with fears he’ll buy freedom

The raid of Mark Buddle’s Northern Cyprus hideout was so covert no-one has yet seen him and Australian authorities who want to bring the bikie kingpin back are now faced with a complex legal and political problem.

A top-secret mission involving Interpol agents and the National Turkish Coast Guard was behind the dramatic arrest of Aussiebikie boss Mark Buddle, who now presents new Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus with a complex legal and political problem.

It can be revealed the raid and arrest of Comanchero commander Buddle at his hideaway in North Cyprus was a sophisticated, planned and well-executed operation which swept up Buddle and whisked him away under heavy security to an isolated cell in an unnamed prison in Turkey’s capital Ankara.

North Cyprus authorities said Buddle had been deemed “inconvenient for the peace and security of our people”.

The operation to arrest and remove him from his island home was the work of Interpol agents from Europe, with the help of the Coast Guard and some local police.

Interpol works under international law and co-ordinates information between its 194 member countries. It does not have powers to make arrests but it can help locate and extradite people at the request of member countries.

Mark Buddle is in custody in Turkey after being deported from Cyprus. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.

Neither federal nor state police in Australia are believed to have known anything about the plans to arrest Buddle, which took place on Saturday.

Now federal authorities here are scrambling to try to find a way to get the Comanchero boss back to our shores.

It is understood police are investigating Buddle in relation to Operation Ironside which came after the downfall of ­trojan horse encrypted app AN0M. He is also wanted for questioning over numerous other matters.

Sources have said the Australia Government faces a number of legal hurdles in their attempts to return Buddle with the biggest problem being a lack of an extradition warrant from the Australian Federal Police.

Another problem is that Buddle is known to have powerful criminal allies in Turkey who have links to high-ranking government officials. There are fears he could get out of Turkey legally then go somewhere other than Australia.

Both Mr Dreyfus and the AFP were asked about the existence of any extradition warrant for Buddle.

A spokesman for the Attorney-General’s Department said it would not be appropriate to make any comment.

“As a matter of longstanding practice, the Australian Government does not disclose whether it has made, or intend to make,an extradition request to a foreign country until the person is arrested or brought before a court in a foreign country pursuantto that ­request,” the spokesman said.

“This is in recognition of the sensitive law enforcement ­context in which extradition ­requests are made and their confidentialstatus as a formal government to government process.”

The AFP declined to comment.

It can also be revealed that an investigative journalist close to the case and reporting on Buddle received death threats.

Cypriot journalist, Levent Ozadam, has revealed he received threatening phone calls and WhatsApp messages after launching investigations into Buddle.

Cypriot journalist, Levent Ozadam, was allegedly threatened for investigating Buddle.

Buddle was arrested on Saturday on the Turkish controlled northern region of Cyprus which is a self-declared Turkish state which occupies the northern third of the island. The rest of the island, which is divided by a UN Buffer Zone also known as The Green Line, belongs to Greece.

Turkish Republic of North Cyprus authorities sid Buddle snuck onto the Mediterranean island using a tourist visa about a year ago. Sources in Cyprus said he had extended it twice in the past six months promising that he will invest the area.

But controversy is swirling around the way he was given permission and allowed to stay.

Turkish Cypriot journalists and politicians are questioning whether he had promised to pay significant amounts of money to guarantee being allowed to stay safely in the territory.

Buddle has been locked up under a temporary order, and his case is before the Justice Ministry.

In a release report of the General Directorate of Police, it was revealed Buddle had been removed because threats to public peace and security:

“In line with the report of the TRNC security forces, upon the instruction of our Minister of Interior, Mr. Ziya Öztürkler, a decision to deport Mark Douglas Buddle, who was found to be inconvenient for the peace and security of our people, was taken on 8 July 2022,” a translation of the report said.

His deportation was signed off on July 8, 2022, and he was flown to Ankara at 8.54pm Sunday night aboard a Pegasus Airlines flight, PC 1884, under the supervision of two police officers assigned by the General Directorate of Police.

Allan Meehan (third from left) with Buddle (second from left). Meehan was appointed national president of the Comanchero outlaw bikie gang on Monday 26 June 2022.

The flight took just over an hour landing at 9.59 pm at Ankara International airport where he was handed over to the authorities of the Republic of Turkey.

It is understood that he may be deported without having to wait for an extradition request from Australia.

Northern Cyprus is not officially recognised by any country other than Turkey and does not share an extradition treaty with Australia.

However, there are extradition treaties between Turkey and Australia.

Buddle, the Commander of the Australian arm of the Comanchero bikie club, fled Australia in 2015 when he was wanted for questioning over the murder of Armaguard security guard Gary Allibon.

Buddle had been living in Cyprus with partner Melanie Ter Wisscha

The 44-year-old initially moved to Dubai, where he set up a new life with his partner Melanie Ter Wisscha, however, was forced to leave last year after a video surfaced showing him fighting with tourists by a resort pool.

He has since moved from country to country, including Greece, Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon.

Buddle has spent extensive time in Turkey with wanted Australian fugitives Hakan Ayik and also Lone Wolf boss Erkan Keskin, but he left for Cyprus after his fellow fugitives apparently claimed he was bringing too much heat on them.