Australia’s most wanted returns: Bikie boss Mark Buddle lands in Australia accused of importing $48MILLION worth of cocaine into Melbourne – after weeks of drama in Europe and split from his wife
- Comanchero bikie boss Mark Buddle was taken into custody by AFP in Darwin
- He is being held on alleged drug importation and is expected to face court today
- It comes after Australia Police worked to have him extradited from Turkey
Comanchero bikie boss Mark Buddle has been taken into police custody after he was secretly extradited to Australia from Turkey.
The nation’s most wanted man was apprehended by Australian Federal Police over alleged drug importation after he touched down in Darwin.
AFP confirmed on Tuesday morning a 37-year-old man had been arrested for allegedly importing more than 160kg of cocaine – which has an estimated street value of $40million – into Melbourne in May, 2021.
Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan said Buddle, who was the subject of an interpol red notice, arrived in Darwin after Turkey made an ‘independent decision’ to deport him.
‘He was escorted by Turkish authorities by charter flight to Darwin where he was taken into AFP custody and arrested,’ Assistant Commissioner Ryan told reporters at a press conference.
‘The AFP was well place to respond to his return due to the progress of an ongoing AFP investigation and the AFP’s strong global law and enforcement intelligence networks.’
Comanchero bikie boss Mark Buddle (pictured) has been taken into police custody in Darwin
Buddle is scheduled to appear in a Darwin court on Tuesday, where AFP will apply to have him extradited to Victoria, where he is facing charges of allegedly importing cocaine.
Assistant Commissioner Ryan said each offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Buddle became leader of the infamous Comanchero gang in 2009 after the former leader, Mahmoud ‘Mick’ Hawi, was jailed for a fatal brawl at Sydney Airport.
He left Australia for Dubai in 2016 with his glamorous long-time girlfriend Mel Ter Wisscha and their two children after he was named a person of interest in a 2010 armed robbery where a security guard was killed.
Buddle then flitted between a range of countries including Greece, Turkey and Iraq before settling in the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus where he received a residency permit on the grounds his ‘high income’ would bring wealth to the territory.
Australian authorities had been working tirelessly behind the scenes to extradite Buddle from Turkey.
The development comes after a tumultuous few weeks in Europe for Buddle after he was last month held at gun point and arrested in Turkey on visa violations.
After initially receiving a residency permit, authorities later ruled that the his presence was ‘inconvenient in terms of public peace and security’.
Mark Buddle pictured with his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his two kids Mel Ter Wisscha
That led to a top-secret mission involving the National Turkish Coast Guard Command, local police and Interpol agents raiding his hideout.
In the days that followed, it emerged he and Ter Wissa had split up when he moved to Northern Cyprus in July 2021 and she moved to Bodrum.
Sources also revealed Buddle married a woman called Ozge, a few months after he arrived in Northern Cyprus.
‘I haven’t seen Mark for a year. He’s the father of my children. They see him, I don’t,’ Ms Ter Wisscha told The Daily Telegraph in July
‘I haven’t left Turkey.
‘My kids have gone to and from (Northern Cyprus) but I have stayed away.’
According to the sources, Buddle’s marriage to Ozge – one of his former employees – is ‘fake’ and the pair were living together at one of his three properties in the Iskele area of Kyrenia, also known as Girne, where he was arrested.
The current whereabouts of Ozge remain unclear.
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