This is the closest, most intimate look you'll likely get of an outlaw biker meth lab
Unless, of course, you're that kind of biker, a cop or have "experienced meth chef" on your resume
For the rest of us, we have this — a walkthrough of a large, clandestine methamphetamine lab recently
uncovered in Australia after a wild police chase, where the suspects rammed police cars
trying to escape
The Mob Reporter here with news of a major development in a long-running investigation targeting Australia's outlaw biker clubs
that not only turned up this robust meth lab
It found a distribution alliance between two biker clubs that were once trying to kill each other
and ties to a brash biker boss living in exile in the Middle East
in apparent fear of arrest in his homeland
Let me tell you about it
The place was a dump, made for business not for pleasure, and a dirty business at that. It was
built on the bones of an old kitchen, robbing me of the chance to say police found everything but the
kitchen sink inside. They were using an array of makeshift materials, blending kitchenware,
hardware goods, industrial supplies and some lab equipment, but precious little. When your product is
dried beside a filthy toilet you might think the manufacturers were callous about health and safety
The lab was in the hinterlands; a rural sparsely populated area called Mangrove Mountain
about 55 miles due north of Sydney one of Australia's largest cities
A hazardous materials crew from the fire department took the first crack at the lab
making sure it was safe for investigators to enter. Everyone wore full protective gear inside. The
various pots, buckets, tubs, kettles, jugs, bags, and bottles of substances found inside were brought
out one by one, to figure out what it was or what it was supposed to be, at least, or what it was on
its way to being. When it was identified it was then weighed, analyzed and cataloged Police still
haven't figured everything out, but it is clear, police say, they were making meth, also called
ice, on an industrial scale. Before police moved in on the lab they had it under surveillance
day and night, both by officers hiding in the bush and using unspecified technology. Covert field
officers lay covered in frost while secretly watching it through the night, an officer said
Police had been chasing drug shipments moving out of the area around Sydney to neighboring regions
and states. It started coming together in June when police stopped an unregistered Mitsubishi
SUV while it traveled on a highway midway between Sydney and Adelaide, two of Australia's
major cities. Inside the highway patrol found it was loaded with cocaine, meth and ecstasy, worth
about 13 million Australian dollars, by a police estimate. The 65-year-old driver was arrested
Detectives then executed a search warrant soon after and seized $450,000 in cash, electronics, and
more drugs: that's ice, cocaine, heroin, and pot. That led investigators to form a special task force
called Strike Force Garlow, which tracked down other targets in July. A truck was intercepted on the M5,
a highway in the southwest suburbs of Sydney. The driver fled across five lanes of traffic
narrowly avoiding being squashed. But he survived and police found him hiding in the bushes nearby
When they searched him, police said he had 280 grams of cocaine hidden in his pants
I can't understand him not tossing it while he was running. Inside the truck officers say
they found 17 kilos of coke and 8 kilos of meth. All in, it was worth about nine million dollars
on the street, police estimate. Two men were arrested. One was linked to the seizure from
the Mitsubishi the month before, which is probably why police targeted this truck for interception
Another police chase preceded the drug lab bust. It was another SUV, this time a black
Toyota Kluger — that's a Toyota Highlander to everyone outside of Australia and Japan
It was in Ourimbah, a remote area about 50 miles north of downtown Sydney
It didn't go smoothly. The driver, police allege, rammed his Toyota into two police cars trying to
stop him, injuring several of the detectives and heavily damaging one of the police cars
before crashing itself into a gutter on the campus of the University of Newcastle. Two men then bailed
out. They didn't get far. Tracked by police dogs two men were found not far away and arrested
One was 48 and the other 35. A search of a nearby home turned up drug paraphernalia
$220,000 cash, a stun gun and a ballistic vest, police said. It was a
couple of hours later when officers finally moved in on the drug lab, on rural property in Kulnura
about 15 miles inland from the crash site. There, investigators said, they found 10 kilos of finished
meth, a large quantity of methylamphetamine oil, more than 20 kilos of precursor chemicals
and equipment consistent with the large-scale manufacture of prohibited drugs
Much of what was being seized in trucks around the state, police say, was coming from this lab. Officers
said those arrested were senior members of the group including biker club officeholders. But the
network has not been decapitated. This lab wasn't an isolated creation. It was manufacturing meth
under an apparent agreement between two homegrown biker clubs, the Comanchero Motorcycle Club
and the Nomads Motorcycle Club. The two clubs had previously been rivals, firebombing and
shooting at each other, but business makes strange bedfellows. They turned to larger scale domestic
meth production when COVID lockdown interfered with importation, police said. In the words of
Detective Superintendent Rob Critchlow, the lab and those who ran it, are well connected with
overseas criminal networks, substantial Australian criminals with "tendrils to the Middle East"
It seems this is the tendril he means: Mark Buddle, once a Comanchero national president
and now suspected of being a guiding influence for the club's high-level involvement in the
international drug trade. Buddle has been the focus of intense police interest for years
So much so that he feels more comfortable living abroad. With many close associates and friends from
the Comanchero being of Middle East descent, that's where he headed. For a while he was living
in Dubai. According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald he recently relocated to Iraq
but is believed to again be on the move. That report says Buddle is one of 16 or so
on Australia's priority organization target list. Even though he has left Australia and apparently
faces no international arrest warrant, police maintain keen interest in him. In fact, just hours
after the clan lab was raided, officers swarmed mark Buddle's family's homes and a business
In this case, those of his in-laws. In theory it's a different probe, called Strike Force Gildi
It's been running for nearly a year and a half and targets the Comanchero Motorcycle Club
Police seized cash, documents, electronics, a set of handcuffs, biker gear, and other
items that investigators said were "relevant to ongoing investigations"
Among the stuff taken was a diamond-encrusted gold ring in the shape of the one percent symbol
Many of you will know that bikers who declare themselves to be part of the outlaw biker culture
have a one percent on their vests and often in tattoos and jewelry. The ring also says "EAST" in
diamonds down the middle. It is believed to be Buddle's ring. The in-laws appear to be facing
no charges but only are collateral damage in the battle between the bikers and the police
The Comanchero are one of the most successful homegrown clubs in Australia. It was started
in the mid-1960s by Jack Ross, a former soldier from Scotland. Its name came from an old western
starring John Wayne. In the movie, the Comancheros are not the Comanche Indians of the Great Plains
of the American Southwest, as is widely thought, but a criminal gang who smuggled guns and whiskey and
terrorized the frontier
"We have a society here, a society that's different from anything visualized by people anywhere in the world..."
"The industry of our society is crime. It pays and we prosper"
That seems more fitting. A split in the Comancheros in the 1980s led to a rebel
faction patching over to become Australia's first chapter of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club
The feud between the Comancheros and the Bandidos galvanized public opinion when a public shootout
killed six bikers and an innocent teenage girl I tell that story of the "Milppera massacre" in
a video I link to here, and in the description Despite infighting and deadly rivalries with
both the Hells Angels and the Bandidos, the Comanchero have found friends and room to grow
The club has become a popular space for Middle Eastern members, especially immigrants from Lebanon
including its former president Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi. By the way, notice the ring that he's rocking?
Look familiar? The story goes that Hawi took control of the club from Jock
after beating him up and taking the boss's colors in the early 2000s. The club was already heading in
a different direction from Jock's vision, including ignoring Jock's ban on dealing or using hard drugs
While Hawi was in prison for a notorious airport brawl that killed a Hells Angels associate
Buddle became the Comanchero's national president. He apparently no longer holds
that title, but perhaps maintains its authority, or at least a considerable influence among members
Australian police are working with authorities in the Middle East who, Critchlow said,
have been "remarkably helpful." That region, he said, is "no longer a safe haven" for them
We'll see how that goes
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