Senior Comanchero bikie detained in Lebanon after Interpol notice

The national sergeant-at-arms of the Comanchero bikie gang in Australia was detained by authorities in Lebanon after police sent an alert through global law enforcement body Interpol.

Tarek Zahed – who successfully left Australia in September despite NSW Police efforts to keep him in the state where he could be monitored – told a Beirut court he did not want to return to Sydney and was seeking Lebanese citizenship, according to documents obtained by the Herald.

National sergeant-at-arms of the Comanchero bikie gang, Tarek Zahed, is in Lebanon.

The translated court documents indicate Australian police had a “green notice” issued through Interpol, which carries a warning about someone believed to pose a criminal threat.

Mr Zahed, 41, had been seeking to leave Australia from July but was initially thwarted by authorities before overcoming their efforts and obtaining an outbound travel exemption from the Australian Border Force on compassionate grounds.

The Interpol bureau in Canberra alerted Lebanese and Turkish authorities about Mr Zahed in July, seeking to prevent his entry to the countries. The notice said he was widely known by Australian police for involvement in serious crimes.

Police believe Mr Zahed is a close associate of offshore bikie boss Mark Buddle, formerly based in the United Arab Emirates but now thought to be in Lebanon.

“The [Comanchero] group provides support to import and distribute drugs. If Zahed is permitted to enter Lebanon or Turkey, it is very likely that he will commit serious crimes and acts of violence under Comanchero’s name,” Australian authorities warned in the notice.

The allegations have also been aired in Supreme Court proceedings as NSW Police seek a sweeping court order that would heavily restrict Mr Zahed’s activities and communications.

Mr Zahed’s Australian lawyer, Mohammad Chahine, said the information provided by Australian authorities through Interpol was defamatory and led to his client’s imprisonment in Lebanon.

In September, police sources expressed frustration at Border Force allowing Mr Zahed to travel after legal avenues to keep him in NSW were exhausted.

Senior Comanchero Tarek Zahed was detained in Lebanon. Credit: Edwina Pickles

Mr Zahed was barred from entering Turkey. He then made his way to Lebanon, where police believe he could be seeking to meet with underworld associates.

He was then detained in Beirut following his arrival on September 11. On September 16, he applied for release to a Lebanese court and his local lawyer conveyed “his fears over returning him to Australia”.

The lawyer claimed Mr Zahed planned to contact the United Nations about the matter and was seeking to obtain “Lebanese nationality on the grounds of his origins”.

The document indicates a judge ordered his release from custody that day and requested his deportation be delayed, subject to him forfeiting his passport, regularly reporting to authorities and facing “surveillance as indicated in the warning issued against him”.

The Interpol green notice is different to a red notice, which draws attention to a fugitive who police want arrested.

Police have been ramping up efforts to target Mr Buddle, Hakan Ayik and other offshore kingpins accused of orchestrating massive drug imports.

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