Disbelief as one of Australia’s top-ranking outlaw bikies who was busted breaking lockdown in Sydney is given the green light to go overseas while countless other Aussies are banned from leaving
- Comancheros bikie boss Tarek Zahed has left Sydney after previous attempts
- Zahed got a travel exemption from Australian Border Force to travel to Turkey
- He told NSW Police he fears for his life in Australia so permit was granted
A Comanchero bikie boss who was being monitored by Australian police and broke lockdown regulations while positive with Covid has been granted a travel exemption despite thousands of other residents being refused.
Tarek Zahed, sergeant-at-arms for the Comancheros, left Sydney airport on Qatar Airways flight QR909 at 10.22pm on Thursday with his wife and child after successfully laying bare his case for leaving Australia: He fears for his life.
The 38-year-old flew to Doha first and will reportedly spend time in Oman before heading to Turkey.
The bikie boss has attempted to leave Australia twice in the past six months with sources believing he will now reunite with his infamous Comanchero mate and drug boss Mark Buddle while abroad, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Buddle is based in Dubai and is believed to play a major role in international drug importation into Australia.
Police sources claim Zahed’s new residency overseas will hamper their ability to control his involvement with Comancheros’ operations Down Under.
The NSW Police believes Comanchero leader Tarek Zahed (pictured) attempted to leave the country twice in the past six weeks to reunite with his infamous drug boss mate Mark Buddle
Zahed, 41, departed on Qatar Airways flight QR909 at 10.22pm on Thursday with his wife and child in tow
‘They’ve approved it on bulls*** compassionate reasons, when we’ve been trying to keep him here so we can keep cracking down on him,’ a source told the publication.
‘You’ve got legitimate people who are being denied from going and visiting sick relatives overseas, and they’ve let a crook out (of the country).’
Zahed’s first request to leave Australia and visit his sick aunt in Lebanon was approved by the Australian Border Force (ABF) but revoked before he could depart by the Australian Crime Intelligence Commission.
But he appealed, instead citing credible threats made against him to NSW Police that made him fear for his life as long as he lived in Australia.
The development is understood to have angered senior officers who believe Zahed will not return to Australia while a threat to him exists.
Police obtained Serious Crime Prevention Orders against Zahed earlier in 2021 which limited his movements and even his communications.
Zahed was luckier than the 122,000 Australians whose applications for travel exemptions to leave the country since the pandemic began were refused by the ABF.
At the start of September Zahed, who lived in the Sydney suburb of Yagoona, was fined after he was found to be walking along the popular Bay Run in Drummoyne, in Sydney’s inner-west, at 2am during lockdown.
Zahed (pictured with NSW Police officers) is believed to have contracted Covid-19 alongside his wife and child
Tarek Zahed is believed to be likely to catch up with fellow Comanchero and drug boss Mark Buddle (pictured) while in the Middle East
Zahed argued with officers that he was exercising but they believed he was discussing plans to leave Australia.
Current public health orders ban anyone in Greater Sydney from travelling more than 5km from their home for exercise.
The bikie boss is understood to have contracted Covid during the city’s most recent outbreak, as well as his wife and child.
Of the 332,810 people who applied to the Australian Border Force for an exemption to leave Australia since the pandemic began, 122,131 were refused.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Australian Border Force for comment.