Bikie boss Mark Buddle gets a private jet flight to court

Comanchero boss Mark Buddle has appeared in court after an inter­state late-night extradition flight on a private jet accompanied by about a dozen police guards.

Comanchero boss Mark Buddle is escorted to a late-night extradition flight from Darwin to Melbourne.

Comanchero boss Mark Buddle has appeared in court after an inter­state late-night extradition flight on a private jet accompanied by about a dozen police guards.

The 37-year-old bikie arrived in Melbourne early on Friday after a secret flight from Darwin late on Thursday organised by the Australian Federal Police.

Police officers whisked Buddle on to the plane, with photographs released by the AFP showing his hands cuffed to his waist.

The 150-seat aircraft carried only the police officers, the flight crew and the sole prisoner into Melbourne under cover of darkness. After landing, Buddle was bundled into a waiting AFP van parked on the tarmac.

The security measures arose over fears his underworld affiliates might try to intervene with his transport into custody in Victoria.

Concerns over possible gangland interference were so grave that police did not permit the bikie boss to attend a Darwin courthouse earlier in the week for a case mention, instead having him appear by telephone from a cell surrounded by police.

Buddle’s extradition from the Northern Territory over the alleged importation of $40m worth of cocaine into Melbourne last year formed part of the AFP’s Operation Ironside.

The operation also saw five others charged in connection to the importation of the illicit drug, which weighed in at over 160kg.

After being named as a person of interest in a murder investigation in 2016, Buddle fled the country, spending time in the Middle East and Cyprus.

First arrested in the Turkish territory of North Cyprus in a raid in July, he was arrested by police at Darwin airport on Wednesday following his extradition from Turkey the day prior.

Appearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday, Buddle was escorted into the glass dock by two masked custody officers.

Charge sheets revealed he was charged with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine and conspiring to import cocaine, with the court documents disclosing the illicit drug was allegedly brought into Melbourne on May 31, 2021. Both carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Buddle has also been accused of conspiring with others to import cocaine between March 19 and June 3 last year.

The prosecution was successful in seeking to redact the name of his co-conspirator, which did not appear on the charge sheets.

Buddle’s lawyer, Stephen Zahr, made no application for bail, telling media outside the court that his client was not feeling “too bad” after his “long flight”.

The court did not hear any details of the allegations made against Buddle, who will next ­appear in court on November 25.