Dramatic photos can be revealed of bloodied Comanchero powerbroker Tarek Zahed’s arrest after cops shot up his BMW by blasting ‘bean bag rounds’ through the windows in a broad daylight ambush.
The bikie gang’s sergeant-at-arms was apprehended at gunpoint by heavily armed police on New South Head Road in Edgecliff in Sydney’s east at 4.50pm on Sunday afternoon, where he was arrested over his role in an alleged 2014 murder.
Exclusive pictures obtained by Daily Mail Australia show the injured bikie boss, 41, sitting on the road beside his damaged vehicle, dazed and with blood dripping down his face as he is spoken to by police.
Officers were on edge that Zahed may have been armed, given he is still recovering from an assassination attempt outside an Auburn gym in May which saw him shot ten times and spend two months in intensive care. His brother Omar died in the shooting.
Zahed was in Sydney this weekend to attend a wedding, and police knew his whereabouts due to mandatory reporting procedures that are part of a Serious Crime Prevention Order he has been hit with.
Dramatic photos can be revealed of bloodied Comanchero powerbroker Tarek Zahed’s arrest at 4:50pm on Sunday after cops shot up his BMW by blasting ‘bean bag rounds’ through the windows
The bikie gang’s sergeant-at-arms was apprehended at gunpoint by heavily armed police on New South Head Road in Edgecliff in Sydney’s east on Sunday afternoon
NSW Police Superintendent Danny Doherty said Zahed received the ‘reception that was deserved’ and said that further arrests would be made in relation to the alleged murder.
‘We’re alleging that he committed this murder and we’re confident that other people involved in this murder will also be charged,’ he said.
Zahed was later charged over the 2014 gangland murder of 29-year-old Youssef Assoum, who was found bleeding out in Bankstown.
‘He’s living the life in Melbourne. We had some information that he was up in Sydney,’ Superintendent Doherty said.
‘And he was given reception in Sydney that was deserved. OK he was battered and bruised and put on the footpath, but that was because he was non-compliant.’
The homicide squad boss said the arrest came after new information was allegedly obtained by Taskforce Erebus, the team investigating recent shootings in Sydney, including Mr Zahed’s own near-death experience.
Exclusive pictures obtained by Daily Mail Australia show the bikie boss sitting beside his damaged vehicle, dazed, in bright blue track pants
Zahed was later charged over the 2014 gangland murder of 29-year-old Youssef Assoum, who was found bleeding out in Bankstown
Comanchero kingpin Tarek Zahed was arrested with his head still in bandages after an assassination attempt earlier this year
He said intelligence from the NSW Crime Commission and Victoria Police’s Echo Taskforce ‘culminated in sufficient information and evidence to conduct a high-risk arrest yesterday at Edgecliff’.
‘[I’m] happy to say we are making progress in relation to those murders,’ Superintendent Doherty said.
‘So yesterday’s arrest was important to us in regards to the calibre of the person that was arrested.’
Mr Zahed appeared briefly in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Monday morning where he did not apply for bail and it was refused.
However the lawyer flagged that she would make a release application on September 5 at Bankstown Local Court.
Bikie kingpin Tarek Zahed will remain behind bars after he was dramatically arrested and charged with murder while his head was still in bandages. Pictured: The car Mr Zahed was travelling in was damaged in the arrest
The ‘Balenciaga Bikie’ has been charged with murder and kidnap in company with intent to commit serious indictable offence
Zahed only resurfaced in public last week in a social media photo shared by the national president of the Comanchero gang
On May 10, Mr Zahed was shot 10 times when he and Omar were at the Bodyfit gym in Auburn, western Sydney.
Omar, 39, died after he was shot several times in the arms, stomach and legs, but Mr Zahed was taken to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition.
He remained there for several months and is still recovering from the deadly attack.
Prior to the shooting, police had warned Mr Zahed that his life was at risk.
Doctors were astonished by his rapid recovery that saw him released from hospital less than two months later following lengthy discussion about whether he would need limbs amputated.
Despite being being shot ten times, there were no visible scars on the face of the bikie hard man in the photo.
A source said he has completely lost sight in his right eye, rendering him virtually blind as he already had reduced vision in his left eye.
‘He had an incident years ago that means vision in his left eye is only 20 to 30 per cent,’ the source said.
‘So with him likely being blind in his right eye now, he will be almost completely unable to see.’
In May, Zahed miraculously survived an assassination attempt at Bodyfit Gym in Sydney’s Auburn when he was shot multiple times
Police and paramedics are seen trying to save the two men at the gym in May after the shooting – with pools of blood seen across the foyer
National president Allan Meehan (left) posted a picture with Zahed (right) last week
Since leaving hospital in July, it’s believed Zahed had been laying low in Melbourne before his return to the Harbour City.
Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said at the time police were investigating possible motives for the assassination attempt, refusing to rule out an inside job.
‘We can’t discount an internal conflict,’ he told reporters.
‘There is opportunities for people to take their place and there’s a real power struggle within organised crime organisations.’
He only resurfaced in public last week in a social media photo shared by the national president of the Comanchero gang.
‘Welcome back tarek ‘hard2kill’ zahed,’ the caption read.
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