 | |
| Founded | 1968; 58 years ago (1968)[1] or 1973[2] |
|---|---|
| Founder | William George "Jock" Ross[1] |
| Founded at | Sydney, Australia |
| Type | Outlaw motorcycle club |
Region | New South Wales,Victoria,Auckland,Tonga,Bosnia,Spain,USA,Thailand[3] |
| Membership | Over 1000 (2019 est.)[4] |
| Leader | Mick Murray[1] |
TheComanchero Motorcycle Club is anoutlaw motorcycle gang inAustralia andSouth East Asia and New Zealand. The Comancheros are participants in the United Motorcycle Council of NSW, which convened a conference in 2009 to address legislation aimed against the "bikie" clubs, their poor public image in the wake of several violent clashes and ongoing biker wars, and defusing deadly feuds such as the Comancheros' battles with theHells Angels.[5][6] The sincerity of these efforts to defend the battered image of the clubs has been met with skepticism.[7][8]
William George "Jock" Ross, aScottish immigrant, formed the club originally in Glasgow Scotland, then after emigrating toSydney,New South Wales, in 1968.[1] He chose the name after seeing the 1961John Wayne filmThe Comancheros. (There was already aCalifornian motorcycle club of the same name, first mentioned in a 1965 article byHunter S. Thompson, and in his bookHell's Angels a year later.[2]) Ross hung a sign on the wall of the Comancheros' clubhouse that read: "If it's white, sniff it/If it's female or it moves, fuck it/If itnarks-kill it"".[9]
Ross-who gave himself the grandiose title of "Supreme Commander"-ran his club in extremely authoritarian and militaristic manner.[10] The Comancheros were considered to be the most violent of Australia's many outlaw biker clubs in the 1970s-1980s owing to their frequent brawls.[10] Ross required his men to engage in weekly para-military drills and he formed an elite force which he called the Strike Force of especially tough members.[10] Many Comancheros disliked Ross as one former member told the media: "If I wanted to march around in the fuckin' backyard, I would had joined the fuckin' army".[10]
In 1983 a second Comanchero chapter was formed byAnthony Mark "Snoddy" Spencer, who had broken away from the first chapter after challenging Ross' authority. When visiting theUnited States with Charles Paul "Charlie" Scibberas, another member of the second chapter, Spencer met with members of theTexan motorcycle club theBandidos and the two gangs became allies. At the time,P2P, one of the chemicals necessary for manufacture ofamphetamines, were legal in Australia, but not in the United States.[11] The Bandidos wanted an alliance to have P2P smuggled into the United States to assist with manufacturing amphetamines, the market for which they dominated in Texas.[11] The Bandidos eventually patched-over the second Comanchero chapter to become the Bandidos' first Australian chapter in November 1983.[12]
The Comancheros and Bandidos were now rivals, and in September 1984 the two clubs engaged in theMilperra massacre, a shoot-out that left seven people dead – four Comancheros, two Bandidos, and a 14-year-old bystander.[13] Ross received a lifetime jail sentence for his involvement in the gunfight,[1] but served only five years and three months before he was released.[why?][citation needed] In 2002, Ross was deposed as the Comanchero "supreme commander" by the Lebanese immigrantMahmoud "Mick" Hawi who now assumed that title.
The Comancheros andHells Angels clashed at Terminal 3 ofSydney Airport on 22 March 2009 in a brawl involving 10 people in the two rivalbikie gangs. The brawl left Anthony Zervas, the brother of a Hells Angel, dead. The fighting was witnessed by over 50 travellers,CCTV cameras and airport staff, including airport security, who could do little to intervene. The security staff were unarmed andAustralian Federal Police arrived late.[14] Six Comancheros were arrested as a result of the altercation and convicted of "riot and affray".[15] In November 2011 Comancheros leader Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi was found guilty of affray and murder,[16] but in May 2014 the murder conviction was overturned on appeal and a retrial ordered. Hawi pleaded guilty tomanslaughter and in March 2015 he was sentenced to a minimum of 3.5 years jail.[17][18][19] In February 2018 Hawi was shot dead, at age 37, whilst sitting in his car outside a gym inRockdale, NSW.[20]
In late 2009Duax Ngakuru was elected as national president.Mark Buddle became the national president in 2011 when Ngakuru fled Australia.Mick Murray was appointed acting national president in 2016 when Buddle in turn fled Australia.[6][21][22] The Comanchero was described as being ruled by a triumvirate that consisted of Melbourne chapter presidentMick Murray, the national sergeant-at-armsTarek Zahed and Sydney chapter presidentAllan Meehan. On 20 August 2017 a brawl broke out at a strip club in Canberra between the members of the ComancheroVictoria and New South Wales chapters.[23] The brawl led to Buddle to attempt to reassert his authority by sendingAli Bazzi to run the club in his absence.[23]
The Comanchero experienced a period of turmoil in 2022–2023.Mick Murray, the president of the Melbourne chapter was arrested for first degree murder on 28 April 2022.[24]Tarek Zahed, the national sergeant-at-arms, was badly wounded during a murder attempt on 8 May 2022.[25] Mark Buddle was extradited fromTurkey to Australia to face charges of drug smuggling on 2 August 2022.[26] Zahed was charged with first degree murder on 29 August 2022.[27] Duax Ngakuru was arrested in Turkey on 14 January 2023 on charges of drug smuggling.[28]Allan Meehan, the new national president was convicted of violating the Serious Crime Prevention Order issued against him by the New South Wales police on 6 July 2023.[29] Alex Vare became the new boss in 2023.[30] In October 2023, Turkish Minister of Internal AffairsAli Yerlikaya publicly announced onTwitter that, Turkish police has detained 37 "full patch" members of the gang inIstanbul.[31] The Australian police have stated that many of the drugs sold by the Comanchero come from theport of Vancouver, which is controlled by theEast End Vancouver chapter of the Hells Angels.[32] Superintendent Jared Taggart of the Australian Federal Police stated that despite the violent clashes between the Australian Hells Angels and the Comancheros, that: "It’s that ever-evolving business model of transnational serious and organized crime and their willingness to co-operate together, even when they say that they’re enemies and that they don’t co-operate. That’s all really smoke and mirrors. It’s all about power, control and harm on our communities."[32]
The Comancheros established a single Western Australian chapter in 2010 which is located on Wellman Street, Northbridge, at the Fitness and Fight Centre.[33]
The Comanchero expansion into Western Australia was delayed by the 2010 arrest of Steve Milenkovski who was about to be patched as the Perth's Chapter president when he was arrested in the culmination of Operation Baystone.[34] Operation Baystone resulted in Milenkovski, Yavuz Ozan, Hao Bi, and Mark Vick Kitos being charged with various drug offences. The operation seized 7.5 kilograms ofmethylamphetamine brought toWestern Australia from New South Wales.[35]
In August 2012 Milenkovski was found guilty of two counts of Possess a Prohibited Drug with Intent to Sell or Supply after a 9-week Perth District Court trial and sentenced to 17 years jail as the "king pin". Two of his co-accused, were convicted of one charge each of attempted possession including David Tanevski who was sentenced to eight years' jail. Hao Bi, who was alleged to have been the courier was acquitted.[36][37]
In May 2014 eight men including two patched members of the Comanchero were charged for allegedly extorting businesses inNorthbridge, Western Australia.[38]
Popular criminal Vince Focarelli was kicked out of the Hells Angels. He then joined other clubs including the Comancheros, and set up his own club. He left the Comancheros later. He and his son Giovanni were shot at by unknown assailants in 2012. Vince was sent to theRoyal Adelaide Hospital and his son died. He refused to name any suspects even though this was not the first time he was targeted. While Vince was in hospital, he was visited by friends who wereFinks members. Some Finks members also visited the funeral of Giovanni.[39][40]
In July 2023, Alen Mordian, a senior Comanchero gang member, was shot dead by unknown persons. A few months later, a senior gang member and his sister were arrested, with drugs and weapons being seized.[41][42]
By 2018, the Comancheros had expanded toNew Zealand. The migration of outlaw bikers from Australia into New Zealand had been driven by the Australian Government's policy of deporting convicted non-citizen felons under Section 501 of theMigration Act 1958.[43][44] The Comancheros used social media to recruit young people into their gang and became involved in themethamphetamine black market.[44] In mid-September 2024, theNew Zealand Police charged 41 members and affiliates of the Comancheros with a total of 137 charges and seized NZ$9.2 million worth in assets following a complex three-year investigation. Police alleged that the Comancheros chapter was operating as an organised crime group involved in money laundering, drug importation and distribution, and a "Commission" scheme to fund military-style training for some of its members.[45] TheNew Zealand Herald also reported that a formerUS Marine had trained Comanchero members in combat drills and military tactics as part of a "ghost team."[46]
On 5 September 2012, Comanchero member Faalau Pisu was murdered, being shot in the head outside theSerbian National Defence Council atCanley Vale, New South Wales whilst attending a wedding. A 25-year-old gang member and a 27-year-old associate of the club were also shot and injured.[47] NSW Police allege that an internal rift within the Comancheros was behind recent shootings involving Comanchero members.[48]
It was later revealed by authorities and media that the Comancheros were at conflict with theRock Machine Motorcycle Club, who had been partially responsible for the infighting. Members of Rock Machine chapters in New South Wales had reported links to aSerbian organized crime group and used that influence to patch over members of the Comanchero Motorcycle Club in mid 2012, causing tension with existing Sydney Comancheros. One of those Rock Machine members to patch over, Faalau Pisu, would be shot dead at a wedding in south-west Sydney on November 5.[49] Two days later, the Rock Machine Sydney chapter retaliated against the Comancheros for the murder of Pisu. Comancheros member, John Devine, was shot six times at a construction site in Rhodes. Devine was the cousin of Comancheros leader,Mark Buddle. Australian authorities also reported tensions between the Rock Machine chapter inMaroubra and the Comancheros inMilperra. The situation would resolve itself, with Mark Buddle, being forced to flee Australia due to a litany of charges against him for unrelated matters.[50]
The jury was told: Anthony Zervas suffered massive head injuries and stab wounds as he was attacked with metal bollards, kicked, punched and stomped on as he lay on the ground