Comanchero Motorcycle Club
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The Comanchero Motorcycle Club is an
outlaw motorcycle gang An outlaw motorcycle club is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, a ...
in Australia. 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 the
Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...
. The sincerity of these efforts to defend the battered image of the clubs has been met with skepticism.


History

William George "Jock" Ross, a Scottish immigrant, formed the club in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, in 1968. He chose the name after seeing the 1961
John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...
film ''The Comancheros''. (There was already a Californian motorcycle club of the same name, first mentioned in a 1965 article by Hunter S. Thompson, and in his book ''Hell's Angels'' a year later.) 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 it narks-kill it". Ross-who gave himself the grandiose title of "Supreme Commander"-ran his club in extremely authoritarian and militaristic manner. The Comancheros were considered to be the most violent of Australia's many outlaw biker clubs in the 1970s-1980s owning to their frequent brawls. 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. 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". In late 1982 a second Comanchero chapter was formed by Anthony Mark "Snoddy" Spencer, who had broken away from the first chapter after challenging Ross' authority. When visiting the United States with Charles Paul "Charlie" Scibberas, another member of the second chapter, Spencer met with members of the
Texan Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...
motorcycle club the
Bandidos The Bandidos Motorcycle Club, also known as the Bandido Nation, is an outlaw motorcycle club with a worldwide membership. Formed in San Leon, Texas in 1966, the Bandidos MC is estimated to have between 2,000 and 2,500 members and 303 chapters, l ...
and the two gangs became allies. At the time, P2P, one of the chemicals necessary for manufacture of amphetamines', were legal in Australia, but not in the United States.. 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. The Bandidos eventually patched-over the second Comanchero chapter to become the Bandidos' first Australian chapter in November 1983. The Comancheros and Bandidos were now rivals, and in September 1984 the two clubs engaged in the
Milperra massacre The Milperra Massacre, Milperra bikie shoot-out or Father's Day Massacre was a gunfight between rival motorcycle gang members on 2 September (Father's Day in Australia) 1984, in Milperra, a south-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. The ...
, a shoot-out that left seven people dead – four Comancheros, two Bandidos, and a 14-year-old bystander. Ross received a lifetime jail sentence for his involvement in the gunfight, but served only five years and three months before he was released. The Comancheros and
Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...
clashed at Terminal 3 of
Sydney Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (colloquially Mascot Airport, Kingsford Smith Airport, or Sydney Airport; ; ) is an international airport in Sydney, Australia, located 8 km (5 mi) south of the Sydney central business district, in the ...
on 22 March 2009 in a brawl involving 10 people in the two rival bikie 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 and
Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...
arrived late. Six Comancheros were arrested as a result of the altercation and convicted of "riot and affray". In November 2011 Comancheros leader Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi was found guilty of affray and murder, but in May 2014 the murder conviction was overturned on appeal and a retrial ordered. Hawi pleaded guilty to
manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...
and in March 2015 he was sentenced to a minimum of 3.5 years jail. In February 2018 Hawi was shot dead, at age 37, whilst sitting in his car outside a gym in Rockdale, NSW. In late 2009 Duax Ngakuru was elected as national president. Four years later Mick Murray was elected. The Comancheros expanded to New Zealand in 2018. Z street gangs are facing an influx of Australian outlaw bikersCarl Bradley, ''
The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...
'' (7 February 2019)


Perth chapter

The Comancheros established a single Western Australian chapter in 2010 which is located on Wellman Street, Northbridge, at the Fitness and Fight Centre. 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. 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 of
methylamphetamine Methylamphetamine may refer to: *Phentermine, α-methylamphetamine *2-Phenyl-3-aminobutane, β-methylamphetamine *Methamphetamine, ''N''-methylamphetamine ** Methamphetamine hydrochloride, "crystal meth" *Ortetamine, 2-methylamphetamine * 3-Methyla ...
brought to Western Australia from New South Wales. 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. In May 2014 eight men including two patched members of the Comanchero were charged for allegedly extorting businesses in Northbridge.


Infighting

On 5 September 2012, Comanchero member Faalau Pisu was murdered, being shot in the head outside the Serbian National Defence Council at
Canley Vale, New South Wales Canley Vale is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Canley Vale is located 30 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield and is part of the South West ...
whilst attending a wedding. A 25-year-old gang member and a 27-year-old associate of the club were also shot and injured. NSW Police allege that an internal rift within the Comancheros was behind recent shootings involving Comanchero members. It was later revealed by authorities and media that the Comancheros were at conflict with the
Rock Machine Motorcycle Club The Rock Machine Motorcycle Club (RMMC) or Rock Machine is an international outlaw motorcycle club founded in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1986. It has twenty one Canadian chapters spread across seven provinces. It also has nine chapters in the ...
, who had been partially responsible for the infighting. Members of Rock Machine chapters in New South Wales had reported links to a Serbian 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. 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 in Maroubra and the Comancheros in
Milperra Milperra, a suburb of local government area City of Canterbury-Bankstown, is located 24 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the South Western Sydney region. ...
. The situation would resolve itself, with Mark Buddle, being forced to flee Australia due to a litany of charges against him for unrelated matters.


See also

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List of outlaw motorcycle clubs This is an alphabetical list of outlaw motorcycle clubs. Outlaw motorcycle clubs See also * List of outlaw motorcycle club conflicts * List of motorcycle clubs * List of criminal enterprises, gangs and syndicates References {{Bike ...
*
Criminal Law (Criminal Organisations Disruption) Amendment Act 2013 Criminal Law (Criminal Organisations Disruption) Amendment Act 2013, an act of the Parliament of Queensland, aims to combat "illegal activities of criminal gangs, including criminal otorcyclegangs," that is, significant types of organised crime ...


Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comanchero Motorcycle Club 1965 establishments in Australia Organizations established in 1965 Outlaw motorcycle clubs Organisations based in Sydney Gangs in Australia Motorcycle clubs in Australia Organised crime in Sydney