Friday 5 August 2022 02:19 AM Comanchero bikie boss Mark Buddle fronts Melbourne court trends now
Comanchero boss Mark Buddle has appeared in a court after being flown across Australia in chains to face two charges for allegedly importing about $40million worth of cocaine.
The nation's most wanted man was apprehended by Australian Federal Police in Darwin on Tuesday after being deported from Turkey, where he was arrested last month for visa issues.
Held behind protective glass, Buddle appeared in person before Magistrate Kieran Gilligan inside the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday.
Comanchero boss Mark Buddle has appeared in a Melbourne court on drug charges
Mark Buddle as he looked in his Year 9 class in 1999
Mark Buddle was extradited from Darwin to Melbourne on Friday morning (pictured)
Such was the security and secrecy regarding Buddle's movements his appearance seemed to have caught even Commonwealth prosecutors off guard.
Due up at 10.30am, court staff were still trying to track a prosecutor 10 minutes after the bikie was due in the prison dock.
When the prosecutor finally arrived, Buddle was nowhere to be seen and needed to brought up from the jail cells deep below the belly of the court.
Buddle was represented in court by Sydney lawyer Stephen Zah, who made no application for bail on behalf of his bikie client.
Dressed in grey, the bikie said nothing during his short appearance from behind the protective glass.
The bikie looked light years away from his appearance in the back row of the Year 9 photo in 1999 at JJ Cahill Memorial High School in Mascot.
The picture, published in the Daily Telegraph on Friday, offered no indication of the wicked path the bikie would take in life.
Schoolmates described how Buddle was always a 'very hard man'.
The court heard it will take federal agents six weeks to compile their brief of evidence against Buddle, who was remanded in custody until his next court date in November.
After spending the past few days in a cell, Buddle was flown from Darwin to Victoria on Friday morning, where he is accused of importing more than $160kg of cocaine in the state's capital city in March, 2021.
Footage released by AFP showed at least four officers escorting the handcuffed 37-year-old across the tarmac and onto the plane, with two of the officers holding Buddle under each arm while pressing his back.
After boarding, Buddle was shuffled down the aisle and thrust onto a seat while officers watched guard from neighbouring rows.
Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan said Buddle, who was the subject of an Interpol red notice, said Buddle touched down in Australia after Turkey made an 'independent decision' to deport him.
'He was escorted by Turkish authorities by charter flight to Darwin where he was taken into AFP custody and arrested,' Assistant Commissioner Ryan told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.
Buddle faced court in Darwin on
