Violence erupts in bikies' leadership vacuum
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November 11, 2012
Comanchero bikie gang chief Mark Buddle. Source: The Daily Telegraph
A NATIONWIDE hunt has begun for the Comanchero bikie president as his gang implodes after a week of internal violence.
With feared biker Mark Buddle, 28, going to ground, the Comanchero had been left "leaderless and rudderless" a police source said.
Detectives believe Buddle is aware of an arrest warrant against him and has deliberately disappeared - leaving his leadership open.
As the gangs squad searches for Buddle, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal tensions have been brewing since the Comanchero absorbed members of a Canadian gang known as Rock Machine.
The Perth gang, which came to Australia in 2009, tried unsuccessfully to gain a foothold in Sydney months ago.A police source said the Comanchero began standing over Rock Machine's members but later offered them a chance to join their own gang.
The move is believed to be a key source of tension between the club's two main chapters in Milperra and Maroubra, leading to what is now being viewed as open warfare.
Tensions in the Comanchero have been openly playing out over the past week following the murder of gang member Faalau Pisu, 23, and the attempted murder of Buddle's cousin, John Devine, 28.
A police strike force, code-named Pindamir, is investigating Mr Pisu's death, which took place at Canley Vale early last Monday morning.
More than 300 people were at the Serbian function centre on Bareena St where a Comanchero wedding was being held.Many present had yet to be interviewed, police said.
Two days after Mr Pisu's murder, Mr Devine was shot up to six times as he made his way to work on a Rhodes construction site.
A separate strike force is investigating the attempt on his life, under the codename of Strike Force Dishar.
The attack has been viewed as payback with Mr Devine confirmed as being a "person of interest" in the murder of Mr Pisu.
Mr Pisu's funeral is expected to be held this week.
The Sunday Telegraph has been told that about 24 hours before Mr Pisu's death, Mr Devine was asked by underworld figures in Kings Cross to "leave the area", a police source said.
Buddle assumed control of the Comanchero club after his predecessor, Daux Ngakuru, left Australia in September 2010.
