Drive-by overnight shootings in Sydney suburbs have become so common place, we hardly notice anymore. There have been 134 so far this year and it isn't even over yet. The Sydney Comancheros are having a war, not with another rival gang, but with each other.
It's now up to their leader, Mark Buddle from the Maroubra chapter, to sort it out. The 28 year old has one member dead and three others in hospital with bullet wounds.
To say that police have lost control of Sydney bikie wars is an understatement and Premier Barry O'Farrell is getting nervous. He's leaning on the Police Commissioner to do something but it must be hard work when nobody is prepared to talk.
The trouble is, they are targeting their victims in public places. The Comancharo who was gunned down outside a Sydney shopping centre this week, is the prime suspect in the murder of a wedding guest on Monday, Faalau Pisu, who died shortly after being shot twice in the head.
Faalau Pisu
It seems the trouble started when one member "patches" over to another chapter. Faalau Pisu had just moved over from the Milperra Chapter to Maroubra and obviously, someone didn't like him. Real tensions now exist between Maroubra and Milperra and members are looking to Mark Buddle to fix it. "No one voted Buddle in, he kind of just took over" a detective said.
Faalau Pisu's family members
But some progress has been made. Strike Force Raptor, set up to target bikies, charged one of Buddle's senior Maroubra members with three separate assaults on Wednesday.
The Comancharos was formed in 1966 by Scotsman William George "Jock" Ross, a former soldier. He introduced a set of rules for members to live by, such as not being allowed to have an affair with another member's partner or wife. But times have changed and as they created new chapters in recent years, the club widened its membership to include Middle Eastern and Islander members.
Mick Hawi
In April this year, Comoncharo national president Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi 31, was found guilty of murdering Anthony Zervas, the brother of Hells Angels member Peter Zervas, at Sydney airport. He was sentenced to 21 years and six months.
So according to police, this isn't gang warfare. "We believe this is a fight within the Comancharos" Organised Crime Squad head, Acting Detective Chief Superintendent Arthur Katsogiannis said.
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