Fight between rival Comanchero bikie bosses behind failed hits on members
A FEUD between bikie bosses has caused a violent split in the Comanchero, sparking two brazen attempted hits in Melbourne as gang members across three cities take sides.
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A FEUD between a senior Comanchero bikie and a former club leader is likely the crux of two brazen assassination attempts in Melbourne, police say.
A dispute between the outlaw motorcycle gang’s current national president, Mick Murray, and former leader Jay Malkoun has split the club, with chapters in Victoria, NSW and Canberra drawn into the internal war.
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A vicious brawl at a Canberra hotel last September during a Comanchero gathering is thought to be linked to the friction.
“Basically two members have had a falling out with Mick Murray and have been specifically targeted,” Sen-Sgt Topham said.
“It appears to be a feud between the Mick Murray and Jay Malkoun-aligned members. That feud goes across states when you have Mick Murray-aligned members in Victoria and Jay Malkoun-aligned members in NSW.
“Which is what we believe the Canberra fight was about,” Sen-Sgt Topham said.
Murray is currently in jail and Malkoun overseas, but police believe he remains a very influential figure.
Comanchero Robert Ale — Murray’s former right-hand man — was lucky to survive after being shot nine times by a pair of gunmen in a terrifying failed hit at a Hampton Park tattoo parlour on February 22.
Ale, 36, was lying down getting a tattoo when he was shot about 1.15pm.
Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Paul Topham says police want to figure out how the men knew their victim would be there.
The pair arrived and fled in a stolen silver Audi, driven by a third man, which was later found burnt out.
Bullets penetrated nearby businesses, one piercing a wall mere centimetres from an office worker.
Police believe a shooting in Reservoir on August 8 last year is also linked to the infighting.
A gang member, a 33-year-old Tullamarine man, was injured after being shot six times when he was lured to a meeting, and a silver sedan used during the crime was found burnt out in Epping.
It’s believed members aligned to Murray could be responsible for both attacks, because the men shot had fallen out with him, police say.
“The animosity between these two members has been filtered down between members of the club ... which is causing factions to form at a local level,” Acting Sen Sgt Topham said.
Police haven’t been able to find a link between the shootings and the killing in Sydney of former national president Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi, whose funeral was held on the same day as the Hampton Park attack.
The tattoo parlour closed shortly after the shooting, because some of the artists did not want to return.
The Herald Sun last week revealed former male model Hasan Topal had been installed as Victorian commander of the gang, following the imprisonment of Murray.