Comanchero Tarek Zahed makes Melbourne home after fleeing Sydney

A feared bikie boss is setting up home in Melbourne after being run out of Sydney, with underworld sources saying the unpopular move is causing waves among Comancheros.

A feared bikie boss has set up home in Melbourne after being run out of Sydney by police.

Comanchero national sergeant-at-arms Tarek Zahed is said to be close with the club’s Melbourne-based president, Mick Murray, and has now moved his operations to the city.

The bling-loving bikie flew to Lebanon in September after 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 now set up home in Melbourne after NSW police made his life “unbearable”.

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

Melbourne-based Comanchero president Mick Murray. Picture: Ian Currie

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

Under the orders granted by the NSW Supreme Court in December, the 41-year-old is banned from wearing Comanchero colours or owning any paraphernalia.

He also can’t possess or wear anything associated with bikie culture.

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

Tarek Zahed is moving to Melbourne. Picture: James Gourley

Both police 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,’’ an underworld source said.

Last year, Victoria and 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.

Originally published as Comanchero Tarek Zahed makes Melbourne home after fleeing Sydney