NRL star’s father accused of being at ‘centre’ of failed drug smuggling attempt

Singapore/Jakarta: Indonesian investigators expect to extradite Gregor Haas from the Philippines “very, very soon” for his alleged role in the attempted importation of enough drugs to qualify a convicted person for the death penalty.

Haas, an Australian citizen and the father of NRL star Payne Haas, has been in detention in the Philippines since his arrest this month in a dramatic sting involving local and Indonesian police, who had been hunting him for months.

Gregor Johann Haas poses for a mugshot following his arrest in Cebu province.Credit: AP

The latter are desperate for him to face justice and questioning in Indonesia. Australia, though mostly silent on this case, is against any outcome that opens the possibility of execution.

The Indonesians accuse Haas of links to the notorious Sinaloa Cartel of Mexico and of attempting to import more than five kilograms of methamphetamines, hidden in consignments of ceramic flooring, through Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in December.

The drugs were allegedly sent from the Mexican city of Guadalajara.

Indonesian narcotics agency spokesman Sulistyo Pudjo Hartono accused Haas of being at the “centre” of the operation and “above” six other suspects, all of them Indonesian.

Brisbane Broncos player Payne Haas (left) and Gregor Haas at the 2019 Dally M Awards at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney.Credit: AAP

Sulistyo said Haas, 46, had been living on a small island off Lombok on a temporary stay permit as an investor and businessman.

The Australian was believed to have entered the Philippines on December 6, several days after Sulistyo said Indonesia received intelligence about the alleged shipment.

He would not speculate on whether Haas had received a tip-off.

Where the Australian gets sent next, and under what circumstances, is a matter for the Philippines, which is now under the more Western-friendly leadership of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

While authorities there do not have to consult Australia, they have promised to do so anyway in a show of goodwill between the two countries.

Asked if Haas could be deported to Australia, Sulistyo declared emphatically, “No!”

“If an Indonesian citizen commits a crime, killing an Australian citizen in Sydney or Melbourne, he will be prosecuted over there, he will be indicted over there, he will be questioned over there and will be imprisoned over there. It is all similar everywhere,” he said.

A decision by the Philippines Bureau of Immigration may be weeks away, or possibly longer.

Complicating the matter of extradition, and potentially putting international loyalties to the test, is the case of Philippine citizen Mary Jane Veloso, who has been on death row in Indonesia for a more than a decade on a contested drug conviction.

The Philippine president is under intense pressure to bring her home, and Haas could be used by both Indonesia and the Philippines as a bargaining chip.

The Australian Federal Police has said it had no role in tracking or arresting Haas.

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