The powerful Vela family, once a tight-knit clan of Maltese-Australian brothers and cousins, is now torn apart by the recent defection of senior guerrilla Jess Vela to Comanchero.
Daily Mail Australia understands the NSW Gang Squad is on alert for fear of retaliation from disgruntled Rebels following the July 15 switch from Jesse, the first member of the Vella family to leave the club.
The rebels have about 2000 members nationwide and 70 branches.
Jesse, 36, was lured by new Comanchero boss Allan Meehan, with whom he had become good friends when Meehan was also a member of the Rebels club.
The pair remained friends after Meehan’s own defection from the Rebels, when he too was enticed by then-Comanchero “world ruler” Mark Buddle to switch allegiances.
Jesse Vella was at the front of the church with his brother Johnny and cousin Damien Vella in January when they buried his father Gino.
Australia’s bikie ‘kingdom’, the Vella family, has been torn apart by Jesse Vella’s defection from the Rebels to rival Comanchero gang, sparking fears of a retribution war
Jesse Vella (left) with his cousin Rebels national chairman Damien Vella (centre) and Jesse’s brother Johnny Vella (right) viewed the club’s solidarity image at the funeral of Jesse and Johnny’s father Gino in January
Allan Meehan and Gino Vella, who became friends when they were both Rebels, are now united as Comancheros after the rival club’s new president lured the Rebels ‘royalty’ into making it.
Jesse Vella (left) hugs a fellow Rebel at his dad Gino’s funeral six months before he left the club, which reportedly became less of a ‘family’ after long-time president Alex Vella Sr (right) was ousted
Solidarity between the three men was shown at the mass bicycle funeral at Our Lady of Victory Church, Horsley Park, before hundreds of mourners for Gino, a senior rebel and brother of the exiled former president, Alex Vella Snr.
Jesse Vella read a poem as a tribute to Gino, who he said shaped him as a man, and ended it with the battle cry “RFFR” – “Rebels Forever, Forever Rebels”.
However, it is understood there was already tension between the three men, which has since deepened, and that pressures within the club go back to the exile of Jesse’s uncle Alex Vella Snr.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting that members of the extended Vella family in Sydney are involved with the Rebels club or any other bikie gang.
One insider said Jesse’s change of allegiance was partly down to a “culture change” at the club, but that Gino’s father would be “rolling in his grave” over the family rift.
Also known as “the Maltese Falcon”, he remains stranded in Malta after then-immigration minister Scott Morrison canceled his visa on the grounds of “bad character” in 2014.
Alex’s son Damien Vella took over as Rebels national chairman but a club told Daily Mail Australia Damien lacked his father’s charm and their difference in management styles had left more than one member unhappy.
The late Gino Vella (left) and his former national president brother Alex Vella created ‘kingdoms’ of an Australian bikie family with their sons as members, but the split with Jesse now has police fearing gang warfare could break out
Jess Vella (centre) delivered a poem to his late father which he concluded with the battle cry ‘Rebels Forever, Forever Rebels’, six months before he left for his Comanchero rivals.
Alex Vella and his son Alex Vella Jr (above) in happier days before Scott Morrison’s ‘Maltese Falcon’ exile, Gino Vella’s sudden death and Jesse’s defection
“The club just isn’t the same as it used to be,” he said. “Some senior members are okay with Jesse leaving, others are not.”
The sudden death of Jesse’s father Gino Vella – who is believed to have had six children – in January means another breakup of the Vella family holdings in Horsley Park, the suburb 40km south-west of the Sydney CBD.
Jesse’s grandparents, Victoria and Gretzzu, who raised 11 children in a cave in Malta, bought a strawberry farm in Horsley Park, which is still in the family, as are acres of land.
Before his permanent exile back to the country of his birth, Alex Vella Snr served as national president of the Rebels Outlaw Motorcycle Club for four decades from a multi-million dollar estate.
The then-Rebels captain’s two-hectare compound was filled with pristine 20th-century Corvettes and dozens of custom Harley Davidsons from the then-bikie boss’s 300 collection.
Above the late Gretzzu and Victoria Vella with their 11 children including Alex (circled, right) and Gino (left) acquired large tracts of Horsley Park in western Sydney which will now be divided
Rebels say Gino Vella (left, his coffin at the funeral) and (right, fishing) would be ‘rolling in his grave’ at the split of the Vella family and divided bikie club friends
Some members of the Rebels feel that the country’s biggest bikie gang (above Gino Vella’s funeral) is no longer the same under the direction of Damien Vella, who took over when Alex Vella Sr had his Australian visa cancelled.
Alex Snr also owned seven rental properties but his legal eviction forced the family to sell their homes and belongings.
Gangster police warned members of the Vela family not to resort to violence or confrontation after leaving Jesse’s club.
Last October, police warned Allan Meehan when he became Commander of the Sydney Chapter of the Comanchero, which is effectively considered the national president.
Meehan took over from Melbourne boss Mick Murray, who was arrested in April over the gangland murder of Mitat Rasimi in 2019.
Former Comanchero chairman Mark Buddle is on extradition order from Turkey, due to be extradited back to Australia to face questioning over the 2010 shooting of Armaguard security guard Gary Allibon.
Murray had taken over from Mark Buddle, currently on extradition order from Turkey, who left Australia for the Middle East in 2016 over the 2010 shooting of Armaguard security worker Gary Allibon.
Police concern over gang warfare in Sydney escalated in May after the shooting of Comanchero Sergeant Tarek Zahed, who escaped with serious injuries, and his brother Omar, who died at the scene.
Jesse Vella’s new role as a senior Comanchero recruit has put him in the crosshairs of the senior gang squad police.
Squad commander Detective Superintendent Grant Taylor warned last year that members of the Comanchero gang would continue to be targeted,
It came after Allan Meehan searched his home, days after he posted a picture on Instagram wearing his new title vest and boasting about his date with the words: “You can’t see the devil’s eyes, until he comes call at’.
The Rebels gang has suffered a bikie crackdown by police before Alex Snr’s visa was cancelled.
Alex, who has held Australian residency for 47 years but not citizenship, later had his revocation upheld by the Federal Court of Australia which unanimously ruled against his re-entry into the country.
Police documents filed in court at the time and obtained by Daily Mail Australia said some members of the Rebels club were involved in drug dealing, money laundering, serious assault, kidnapping, extortion, firearms offences, threatening police officers and intimidating court witnesses. .
