Comanchero leader Mark Buddle is in custody in Australia this morning after being deported by Turkish authorities as part of a top secret, three-year operation.
The motorcycle gang boss touched down in Darwin and is in the custody of Australian Federal Police (AFP).
AFP Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan said Buddle was escorted on a charter flight to Darwin from Turkey and he will face court today.
He is facing two charges of allegedly importing cocaine worth $40 million.
The 37-year-old is being held in a secret location.
Buddle has been a target of Operation Gain since March 2021.
The operation, which has never been made public before now, was set up to bring home Australia's most wanted criminals.
Ryan confirmed Buddle was a user of the AN0M mobile phone system, which the AFP and FBI had been operating in secret before making 500-plus arrests in a worldwide takedown under Operation Ironside.
Operation Ironside was a secret, three-year investigation into organised crime using the encrypted app, which had been covertly distributed by investigators.
Ryan said Operation Ironside had tracked encrypted communications showing cocaine would be shipped from Hong Kong to Melbourne and Sydney.
"This investigation has been going for a significant amount of time," Ryan said.
Buddle's "complex" arrest, Ryan said, would deal a serious blow to drug syndicates operating in Australia and offshore.
Criminals sold more than 12,000 AN0M encrypted devices and services to more than 300 criminal syndicates operating in more than 100 countries, including Italian organised crime, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and various international drug trafficking organisations.
Believing their devices were protected from law enforcement by the shield of impenetrable encryption, AN0M users openly discussed narcotics concealment methods, shipments of narcotics, money laundering, and violent threats.
Ryan said the Buddle extradition could mean more Australians on the run could be caught and sent home to face justice.
There are more than 20 targets being tracked by Operation Gain, including more people in Turkey.
"Organised crime is based on greed and violence, and that will continue for as long as Australians have the appetite to consume illegal drugs," Ryan said.
The AFP confirmed Buddle's arrest this morning in a statement, writing: "The AFP can confirm it has arrested a man, 37, for allegedly importing more than 160kg of cocaine into Melbourne in May, 2021."
Buddle was detained for several weeks in Turkey after being expelled from the self-declared republic of Northern Cyprus on July 10.
He left Australia in 2016.
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2022-08-03 00:22:50Z
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