Key figures inside Comancheros outlaw motorcycle club
THE Comancheros are one of the most dangerous and volatile outlaw motorcycle clubs in Australia. Here are the major players and figures inside Comanchero Inc.
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THE Comancheros are one of the most dangerous and volatile outlaw motorcycle clubs.
In the words of veteran crime journalist Andrew Rule, Comanchero Inc. is a serious crime family with more rackets than The Sopranos and more ink than the New York Times.
HOW COMANCHEROS BECAME MOST FEARED BIKIES
INSIDE MELBOURNE”S OUTLAW BIKIE GANGS
Of all the “one percenter” gangs, the Comancheros are the most dedicated to crime, according to police intelligence.
What follows is a list of some of the major players and figures in the Australian branches of the Comancheros
MICK MURRAY
The national president of the Comancheros, Murray is serving an eight-month stint in Barwon Prison for contempt.
In March 2017, he refused to take an oath or answer questions at a compulsory hearing before the Chief Examiner.
Murray told the Chief Examiner “Mate, I’m not gunna waste anyone’s time. I’m not answering any questions today. I’m not lagging anyone, so you’re wasting your time and mine”.
Murray was attacked in Darwin in 2015, in a move that kicked off a tit-for-tat war between two of Australia’s biggest bikie clubs, the Comancheros and Rebels.
Murray had been on holiday in Darwin when he was involved in a brawl at a strip club with local Rebels members.
The owner of Nitro Ink tattoo parlour in Hampton Park and Nitro Gym in Hallam, Murray and his wife were ordered to pay $3.72 million in taxes, interest and penalties in 2017.
Murray is a hands-on president with a keen following, including robust male model Hasan Topal, a rising star in the club.
HASAN TOPAL
Former model Hasan Topal is a recent addition to the Comanchero leadership team.
Topal was named commander of the Victorian Comancheros, following the imprisonment of Mick Murray.
Topal showed he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty after being involved in a violent fight between Victorian and New South Wales Comancheros members last year.
CCTV from the strip club in Canberra where the fight took place showed him smashing a glass into his own forehead and ripping his T-shirt before rejoining the brawl.
Understood to be one of Mick Murray’s trusted confidantes, Topal was on bail for extortion and assault charges at the time of the incident.
Victoria Police’s anti-bikie Echo Taskforce believes Topal has been installed with the blessing of Murray.
Topal did an extensive photoshoot with Chadwick Models in 2013.
MAHMOUD “MICK” HAWI
National president until he was jailed for 28 years’ over a horrific brawl at Sydney Airport in 2009.
When Hawi found himself on the same flight from Melbourne as Hells Angel Derek Wainohu, they both called for re-enforcements.
The groups clashed when the plane landed and Anthony Zervas, the brother of a Hells Angel, was bludgeoned to death with metal bollards, stabbed and stomped on in the middle of the busy domestic terminal.
In 2014, Hawi’s murder conviction was set aside and he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
He was released on parole in May 2015 after serving five years for his part in the brawl.
Less than three years after his release, Hawi died after being repeatedly shot through the window of his car outside Fitness First in Rockdale, NSW.
AMAD “JAY” MALKOUN
Malkoun was caught in 1988 with $5.5 million worth of heroin after raids in Melbourne and Perth.
He received an 18-year prison sentence for what was regarded as Victoria’s biggest drug smuggling syndicate at the time.
A former kickboxer and strip club manager, he became president of the Victorian branch of the Comancheros when they moved into Melbourne in 2009.
In July 2013, the Herald Sun revealed he was linked to a group of suspected firearms traffickers by a secret police informer.
He left Melbourne to start a new life in Dubai, and now lives in Russia.
Malkoun is believed to have established a successful crime syndicate made up of heavily-armed Russian mercenaries.
In 2015, he was linked to Melbourne real estate deals worth $13 million.
WILLIAM GEORGE “JOCK” ROSS
Ex-military man who founded the Comancheros in 1968.
After his protégé Anthony “Snoddy” Spencer formed a splinter group that became the first Australian Bandidos chapter, members of both clubs confronted each other in a Milperra pub carpark in 1984.
Ross, waving a machete bellowed: “Kill ‘em all.”
The 10 minute battle left six bikies and a 14-year-old bystander dead and another 20 people in hospital.
He received a life sentence for his role, but would eventually serve only a few years after his murder conviction was overturned to manslaughter on appeal.
Spencer was later deposed as president of the club he formed.
DAUX NGAKURU
Sergeant-at-arms in Sydney who graduated to the role of president after Mick Hawi’s arrest over the Sydney airport brawl.
In 2007, Ngakuru and Hawi were shot at as they sat in a car in a busy Italian restaurant strip in Sydney.
A tattoo parlour he was linked to there was also firebombed.
He is an associate of one of Australia’s most wanted men, Hakan Ayik.
Ngakuru relocated to Spain in 2010 and is believed to still be in contact with Ayik.
MARK BUDDLE
A bikie who doesn’t have a motorcycle licence, Buddle assumed the role of national president in 2010 when Ngakuru left Australia.
Bundle is now in exile overseas, wanted for questioning over the fatal shooting of Sydney security guard Gary Allibon in 2010.
In 2012, he was charged with two counts of being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence, one count of assault and one of affray after slapping, choking and threatening to slit his girlfriend’s throat.
Two years later, Buddle was sentenced to 15 months’ jail for his role in a 2011 fight at a Melbourne strip club.
The brawl at Spearmint Rhino on King Street left two men unconscious.
VINCE FOCARELLI
An ousted South Australian Comanchero boss who has survived six attempts on his life since 2006.
His son Giovanni, 22, was shot dead in a car in January 2013.
Focarelli, who was also in the car at the time, was lucky to survive after being shot four times in the alleged ambush.
Previous attempts included several shootings and a car bombing, which took the lives of two Hells Angels associates.
Focarelli was jailed for drug and firearms offences in 2012, but was released on parole a year later.
In March 2017, he was forced to leave Australia after it was revealed there were plans to deport him to his birth country of Italy.
Going by the name Imran Salaam after converting to Islam, Focarelli is now believed to be living in Malaysia.
WHY AUSTRALIA HATED CHRISTOPHER SKASE
Originally published as Key figures inside Comancheros outlaw motorcycle club
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