Victorian bikie laws creating safe haven for Sydney outlaws

Bikie bigwigs increasingly feeling the heat from orders severely restricting their activities in NSW are looking to Victoria as a safe haven.

Bikie bigwigs facing contact bans in Sydney have broken bread in Melbourne at a kick-boxing event.

Leading Comancheros Tarek Zahed and Allan Meehan are increasingly feeling the heat from orders severely restricting their activities in NSW.

But they travelled south on the weekend to get together with Comanchero associate Mohamed “Moey” Alameddine – who is also in line for a ban – for a fight night at Wantirna’s The Grand reception centre.

Victoria has anti-association laws but they are yet to be used, six years after being introduced.

The situation here is said to be making the state more attractive for Harbour City outlaws being squeezed by police scrutiny generated by months of gangland bloodshed.

Comanchero honcho Tarek Zahed (left) in Victoria with associates including (second from left) Allan Meehan and (right) Mohamed “Moey” Alameddine.

Zahed moved to Melbourne last year as NSW police turned the screws, successfully applying to the state’s Supreme Court to ban him from wearing Comanchero colours.

There were also orders to tell police the registration of the vehicle he is driving, a limit of one mobile phone and a cap of $10,000 on his bank account.

“He can still run things from there. All their business is now done on stealth phones,” one underworld source said at the time.

Zahed later returned to Sydney where he was critically injured in a shooting that killed his brother Omar.

He is believed to have been left with limited vision in the ambush’s aftermath, and wore sunglasses at the Wantirna event.

Victoria Police Echo task force detectives became aware of Zahed’s presence south of the border.

“Welcome back tarek “hard2kill” zahed (sic),” Meehan posted on Instagram after their night out in Melbourne.

Meehan gives Zahed a cheek kiss.

In the photo Zahed, who was once dubbed the “Balenciaga bikie”, wore Fendi, while Meehan opted for a Versace tracksuit and Alameddine a Louis Vuitton top.

Combined with another fourth unknown friend, their outfits cost north of $6000 before factoring in the flashy jewellery.

Comanchero national supremo Meehan is also under a fierce law enforcement spotlight.

Last month he was hit with a serious crime prevention order prohibiting him from associating with any other bikie in NSW after detectives served papers in an early morning visit to his home.

There has been persistent speculation Meehan will move to Victoria, where he would not be under the same legal restrictions.

Alameddine is set to be next in line for one of the style-cramping orders.

Police have a list of 24 people they want to stop him fraternising with and have gone to the NSW Supreme Court to make that happen.

Among those listed are Meehan, Zahed, senior ­Comanchero Mark Buddle and his old mate Ali Bazzi. Police say they are seeking the order as a way to protect the public.

Alameddine – viewed as a close Comanchero associate – is fighting the ban and has subpoenaed documents ­related to listening devices and other police material.

A contingent from the rival Mongols outfit was also among the crowd at Wantirna on Sunday. There was no trouble on the night.

Zahed and Meehan are increasingly feeling the heat from orders severely restricting their activities in NSW.

It has been a turbulent 14 months for the Comancheros. The gang was rocked last June by the arrest of dozens of members as part of the Australian Federal Police’s Ironside inquiry.

That operation was based on criminals using the AN0M app, a supposedly surveillance-proof communications app developed by, and secretly monitored by, police.

In April, Melbourne-based national president Mick Murray was arrested and charged over the murder of underworld figure Mitat Rasimi, who was shot dead in his Peugeot coupe in Dandenong in March 2019.

Buddle was extradited back to Australia over drug trafficking allegations earlier this month.

He is accused of masterminding a 160kg cocaine shipment worth $40m that arrived in Melbourne in May last year.

Six other people, including a Melbourne truckie, have also been charged over that consignment.

Buddle is also a suspect in the 2010 murder of 59-year-old Chubb security guard Gary Allibon in Sydney during an alleged armed robbery. He left for Europe after Mr Allibon’s death.