Mark Buddle has been arrested by the AFP after being deported by Turkey.
Ryan said Buddle had been the target of the AFP’s extensive Operation Gain since March 2021, and more arrests of up to 20 more were expected to follow.
This includes Hakan Ayik, a Turkish national who recently renounced his Australian citizenship and is currently the subject of a global arrest warrant.
“Today’s arrest is a major blow against organized crime groups,” Ryan said.
“Australians who think they can hide offshore in perceived safe havens, selling drugs into Australian communities, making huge illicit profits at the expense of Australian lives. Take this as a warning.”
Australian federal investigators began preparations for Buddle’s arrest in October 2021, presenting a full summary of evidence to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in January 2022.
In mid-July, the Melbourne Magistrates Court issued an arrest warrant for the 37-year-old for his alleged involvement in the importation of cocaine, and within weeks, Interpol had issued a red notice, a global alert, for its capture.
Mel Ter Wisscha says she has been separated from Buddle since last year. Credit: Provided
Buddle had been living in northern Cyprus on a tourist visa since June last year before he was arrested by Turkish authorities and taken to Ankara, where he has spent the past month.
The man’s 37-year-old wife, Mel Ter Wisscha, has also been detained by Turkish authorities over visa issues. He told the media last month that the pair were separated and had not seen each other in more than a year.
Ryan said Turkish authorities independently deported Buddle and accompanied him to Darwin.
“All the logistics were really arranged and organized by the Turkish authorities,” he said.
“The Turkish authorities are regional leaders in the fight against organized crime and we thank them for their efforts.”
In June 2021, five people were arrested in connection with the importation of more than 160 kilograms of cocaine into Melbourne, including the alleged coordinator of the transnational organized crime syndicate, a 42-year-old Sydney man and four Victorians.
At the time, federal police said the importation investigation came after intelligence confirmed large quantities of cocaine were due to arrive in Melbourne via Sydney from Hong Kong in late May 2021.
Federal police alleged that a transnational criminal syndicate had been operating from Hong Kong and Turkey, using encrypted communications to coordinate the shipment, estimated to be worth more than $40 million, through a leader of the land crime syndicate in sydney.
The AFP seized 160 kilograms of cocaine during Operation Ironside in late May 2021.
With the help of AFP officers, federal investigators intercepted and seized the cocaine, which had been hidden inside a shipment of air filters that arrived in Melbourne on May 31, 2021.
The Sydney man was charged with importing a commercial quantity of controlled drugs across the border.
In Victoria, three men accused of having a role in the collection and distribution of the cocaine shipment were arrested in Melbourne between June 4 and 6.
Mark Buddle (left) with his bandmate Ali Bazzi in the Mediterranean.
They were a 26-year-old Taylors Hill man, a 31-year-old Keilor East man and a 28-year-old St Kilda East man.
Search warrants were also executed in Taylors Hill, Keilor Park, Keilor East, Dandenong, Southbank, Point Cook and Laverton North, as well as Leichhardt in NSW.
Buddle’s attorney, Robert Welfare, declined to comment on the case when contacted Wednesday.
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