A man charged with more than 50 drug and gun offences following an international manhunt has been labelled a “key organised crime figure” by police.
Police say the man spent three weeks in limbo at an airport in Manila, Philippines before being forcibly deported back to Australia and arrested.
NSW Police Raptor Squad’s Detective Inspector Matthew Smith said it had been a “long journey” of evading capture for the alleged crime boss.
“He was confined to a chair, he was guarded by two staff by the bureau of immigration, the only way he was able to leave that chair was to book a flight to Australia and return home,” Smith said.
“He was provided the opportunity to leave himself, that obviously did not happen.
“It was very evident he was trying to avoid coming back to Australia and facing the serious drug and firearm charges that are held against him.”
The international manhunt to track the alleged offender down spanned four countries and several years, starting in October 2022.
NSW Police established a strike force to look into alleged cocaine supply in Sydney, which has seen three men have been previously charged and remain before the courts.
In January last year, NSW Police asked Australian Federal Police to help track down a 32-year-old man in Bangkok, Thailand, alleging he was there on a falsely obtained passport.
The man was arrested on November 8 last year and jailed for almost 11 months in Thailand on immigration offences.
In October this year, he received a royal pardon and deported from Thailand on a Brisbane-bound flight.
While in transit in Manila, in the Philippines, the man allegedly attempted to book a flight to Istanbul in Turkey, via Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
The AFP alerted its officers in Manila, Abu Dhabi, and Ankara in Turkey, who warned local authorities about the man’s impending arrival.
The man was denied entry into Istanbul and redirected to Abu Dhabi, where he landed on Thursday, November 7.
Police allege he tried to book and board a flight to Lebanon, but was instead returned to Manila.
When he landed back in the Philippines on November 8, the man allegedly bought a ticket to Taiwan, but was refused entry onto the plane.
Instead of returning to Australia, the man opted to stay in the transit area of Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, police claim
He remained there for three weeks.
“By the time he got back into the country, he succumbed to the fact he was going to face court in NSW for the offences,” Smith said.
However, he was officially denied entry to the Philippines on November 11, and was finally flown to Australia.
He was arrested by police at Melbourne Airport.
NSW Raptor Squad officers took custody of the man in Melbourne and took him to Albury, where he was charged with 55 drug and gun offences relating to the seizure of guns and ammunition during a search warrant in Kensington, Sydney, in December 2022.
He appeared in court in Sydney yesterday, where he was formally refused bail.
He will next appear in court tomorrow.
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