Mejid Hamzy put out contract to have Comanchero boss Mark Buddle murdered

Bikie boss Mark Buddle and gangster Mejid Hamzy were at war and planning hits on each other. Brenden Hills reveals how Buddle carried out his plan first.

Slain gangster Mejid Hamzy put out a contract in search of an assassin to murder international drug boss Mark Buddle, police say.

But before Hamzy’s plot to eliminate the Comanchero Bikie Gang’s leader could be carried out, Buddle allegedly struck first.

Buddle has been accused of financing the execution of Hamzy, who was gunned down by two hit men outside his Western Sydney home on October 19, 2020.

Police will allege Buddle ordered the hit on the belief that the 44-year-old stole a 400kg drug shipment worth $39 million that the bikie boss had smuggled into Australia.

But The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that police believe the pair were in the midst of an ongoing conflict with each other when Hamzy was murdered.

It was believed Mark Buddle (pictured) and Mejid Hamzy were engaged in an ongoing conflict before Hamzy was murdered. Police believe Buddle ordered the hit.

Hamzy had been sending communications via an encrypted AN0M phone, which were thought to be beyond the reach of police surveillance, allegedly in search of someone who was willing to accept a contract to kill Buddle.

The devices were revealed in June 2021 to have been developed for a worldwide police sting, known as Operation Ironside, which ­allowed police to read the messages being sent on the phones.

“Evidence obtained through ­Operation Ironside revealed Hamzy and Buddle were in conflict (at the time of the murder),” police documents said. “Messages that were ­obtained from the AN0M account of Hamzy reveal (he) he had previously offered a contract for the murder of Buddle.”

It is unknown who Hamzy sent the messages to or how much he was willing to pay to have Buddle killed.

Known to sections of the local underworld as “Aussie”, Buddle is believed to be living in Cyprus after fleeing Australia in 2016.

Buddle was previously the Nat­ional President of Australia’s Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Club.

Mejid Hamzy had been sending communications via an encrypted phone in search of someone to accept a contract to kill Buddle.

Police intelligence says he now occupies the role of “International President” and wields even more power, which has been boosted by his personal worth of more than $100 million, which investigators ­believe he has largely made from drug smuggling.

And police allege he is willing to use that wealth to eliminate his ­enemies or those like Hamzy who threaten his operation.

As one underworld figure put it: “That’s Buddle’s business.”

Another had a more realistic take on the situation: “What the hell was Hamzy doing ripping a drug shipment off Mark Buddle? That’s suicidal.”

Officially, Hamzy ran a gourmet chocolate and dessert bar. But ­behind the scenes he was an influential crime figure who was believed to be behind the 2016 murder of hit man Hamad Assad.

The murder of Hamzy was the second of 13 underworld murders that have plagued Western Sydney since August 2020.

A number of the murders have been linked to the Hamzy family’s alleged feud with members of the Western Sydney based Alameddine family.

The revelation of Buddle’s alleged involvement in Mejid Hamzy’s murder shows the Hamzys had more enemies than just Alameddines.

Mark Buddle (far left) is said to be the “International President” of the Comanchero.

PLANNING THE HIT

The guns used to kill Hamzy were never recovered because police ­believe they were melted down and destroyed.

It was indicative of the high degree of planning that police allege was used in the murder of Hamzy.

The pieces were in play to make sure the job was done and the killers’ tracks were covered. There were two shooters, both were wearing all black, down to their face coverings.

One car was used for the murder and two others were stationed nearby to be used as getaway cars while they all had counterfeit number plates. Police believe there was a meeting location prior to the murder, and a stand-down location for after it. And all phones had to be off, or at least in flight mode to prevent their locations being traced.

Police allege the murder vehicle was a stolen Toyota RAV4, which left a staging location at Moorebank at 4.14am on October 19, 2020 and drove to Hamzy’s home on Simmatt Ave, Condell Park.

A grey Toyota Rav4 was believed to have been used in the Mejid Hamzy murder.

The getaway car was later torched.

After the shooting, police allege the killers ran back to the RAV4 and drove it to Colechin St, Yagoona, where it was torched and destroyed.

They ran through Colechin ­Reserve to Cantrell St where two getaway cars – a black Mercedes Benz and a white BMW 328i – were waiting. The shooters then travelled to a unit in Moorebank while the cars were later hidden in a chicken shed on a property in Luddenham.

The BMW, Mercedes and Toyota had been stolen and were fitted with counterfeit number plates.

The exhaustive planning all led up to one moment – Hamzy walked out of his home on Simmatt Ave, Condell Park, at 7.26am.

The two alleged killers, each armed with a 9mm pistol, got out of the RAV4 and ran towards him.

EXECUTION DAY

It took a moment for Hamzy to ­realise the alleged killers were running towards him.

By the time he saw the men who had come to kill him, it was too late.

Of the 14 shots fired, only four hit Hamzy. The stray shots hit homes and cars parked on the street.

An autopsy concluded that the shots hit him in the arm, chest and leg. Hamzy screamed each time he was hit by a bullet.

Mejid Hamzy was shot as he left his Condell Park home. .

But even with a bullet riddled body, Mejid Hamzy didn’t go down. Somehow, he ran, along Simmatt Ave and turned the corner onto ­Curtin Pl, a battle-axe block, where he lay down and died, 200m from where he’d been shot.

The alleged shooters didn’t chase him. Instead, they bolted.

THE WRONG MAN

Mejid Hamzy’s neighbour is lucky to be alive. He almost got shot when he left his home just after 6.30am on October 19, 2020.

The shooters were inside the RAV4 parked out the front of Hamzy’s townhouse on Simmatt Ave, Condell Park waiting for the crime figure to emerge. Police will allege the neighbour was momentarily mistaken for Hamzy when he walked out of his front door.

The mistake allegedly occurred because Hamzy and his neighbour lived in townhouses which feature front doors that are close together.

He was made aware of the situation by police and has given them a statement confirming he would have left his home at about 6.30am on the day of the shooting. Hamzy was ­allegedly shot just after 7.30am.

BLABBER MOUTHS

It’s the dinner party invitation you never want to receive. In the period after Hamzy was murdered, the Sydney underworld was abuzz with gossip that Comanchero boss Mark Buddle was responsible for ordering the hit.

Buddle’s Sydney-based acolytes sought to identify where the gossip was coming from. They pinpointed several potential blabber mouths.

There was gossip straight after the Hamzy murder that Mark Buddle was involved.

As a result, a collection of the ­offending underworld figures were called in for meetings and re-education sessions.

At least one went to dinner with the bikie gang’s leaders in the hope of staying on their good side.

The main item of business at the meetings: Reminding all attendees of their obligation to keep their mouths shut and the consequences that would follow if they didn’t.

After one of the meetings, one underworld figure had a discussion about potentially killing one of their peers who was viewed as a potential liability.

MURDER CHARGES

After an exhausting two-year investigation, on March 10 police closed the net around the two men alleged to have executed Hamzy

Bryce Williams, 34, and Christopher O’Brien, 31, were arrested in early morning raids on properties in Panania and East Hills before they were taken to Bankstown Police ­Station and charged with murder.

Police will allege the two men were contracted to perform the murder but purposely kept in the dark as to details that included who else was involved, to avoid chatter that could assist the police.

Williams and O’Brien are both refused bail and will appear in Burwood Local Court on July 13.

Mejid Hamzy’s accused killer Bryce Mark Williams

Their arrest was not the first in the investigation into Hamzy’s murder. Police arrested Omar Ezzeddine, 39, on July 21, 2021, and charged him with Hamzy’s murder and other offences.

According to documents tendered in Omar’s court case, he is a car ­rebirthing specialist who allegedly played the fixer role in the murder. Police allege Omar had mastered a method of cloning registration plates and vehicle identification numbers by copying them off car sales websites to make stolen cars look like they were legitimately owned by the criminals driving them.

He is accused of providing his Moorebank apartment as a staging location and a safe house after the murder.

Ezzeddine Omar was arrested last year for an alleged role in the murder of Meijid Hamzy. Picture: NSW Police.

Police also allege Omar was the driver of the Mercedes used as the getaway car in the Hamzy murder.

He also allegedly hid the sports car and the BMW used as the other getaway car inside a chicken shed at his Luddenham property before they were discovered by police.

Omar is listed to face Burwood Local Court on July 13.

BUGGED SUSPECTS

Williams and O’Brien were secretly recorded 21 times during the police investigation.

Much of what was recorded cannot be revealed because of a suppression order made in their cases.

In one instance police surveillance teams spotted a friend of O’Brien, who was acting as a lookout while a police recording was being made.

The first recording took place inside Williams’ Hurstville apartment on October 20, 2021. Another took place the next day at a suburban park.

A suburban laneway was the site of three other recordings in January while another was made near a train station in February. One of the final recordings featuring O’Brien was made when he attended a police station on February 17, 2022.