Top Comanchero Tarek Zahed forced to move to Melbourne after return to Oz

A leading Sydney Comanchero’s exile from Australia is over, but extensive new NSW Police powers have forced him to shun his home state and head to Melbourne.

Comanchero bikie boss, Tarek Zahed, has returned to Australia and moved his operations to Melbourne after NSW police made his life in Sydney unbearable.

The bling-loving bikie flew to Lebanon in September last year after the Australian Border Force granted him a visa despite NSW Police twice blocking him from leaving the country previously.

But he came back earlier this month and has set up home in Melbourne.

Before he left, Zahed, a close associate of Comanchero boss-in-exile Mark Buddle was getting plenty of attention from the Raptor Squad, tasked with disrupting bikie activity.

Tarek Zahed leaving the Downing Centre Courts last January. Picture: James Gourley

In the lead up to him leaving Australia he was arrested and fined for Covid breaches and also an assault at a up-market restaurant in Barangaroo.

While he was away NSW Police applied for and were granted extensive powers to restrict Zahed’s lifestyle with serious crime prevention orders.

“There is no way he is coming back to Sydney … the cops are all over him,” said one underworld source.

“He can still run things from there. All there business is now done on Stealth phones,’’ he said referring to the latest encrypted devices used by the underworld.

Zahed is free to move around but chooses not to do it in NSW — he is currently believed to be on a trip to the Gold Coast with associates.

Under the orders granted by the NSW Supreme Court in December the 41-year-old national Sergeant of Arms is banned from wearing Comanchero colours or owning any of its associated paraphernalia. He can’t possess or wear anything associated with the bikie culture.

Other orders include telling police the registration of the vehicle he is driving, only have one mobile phone and is not allowed to have more than $10,000 in his bank account.

Zahed was also the boss of the Sydney Chapter of the Comanchero gang when he left for Lebanon but in October former Canberra bikie Allan Meehan announced he was the new Sydney boss, another indication that Zahed does not intend to return to Sydney.

New crime prevention orders prevent Zahed from wearing Comanchero colours or owning any of its associated paraphernalia. Picture: Ian Currie

Both NSW cops and underworld sources say his move has not been popular and there is trouble brewing in the Comanchero bikie camp, especially the rivalry between the two major city chapters.

“There is a feeling in Melbourne that Sydney has lost control. The AN0M operation got a lot of guys particularly in Sydney,’’ he said.

Last year, NSW Police working with the Australian Federal Police arrested scores of Comanchero and their associates who had been using AN0M encrypted devices. They had no idea that AN0M, was in fact introduced to crime networks in a covert operation by the FBI and AFP who were able to capture all their communications.

Comanchero Motorcycle Club President Mick Murray in Victoria. Picture : Ian Currie

The Comanchero also have a strong presence in Melbourne and it is the home base of national president Mick Murray.

“It will be interesting to see how they get on,’’ said the source.

Originally published as Top Comanchero Tarek Zahed forced to move to Melbourne after return to Oz