Investigators allege NRL star’s father has cartel links, sent drugs from Mexico

Accused Australian drug smuggler Gregor Haas allegedly sent a shipment of methamphetamines to Indonesia – the seizure of which has him facing execution or life in prison – from a city in Mexico, hidden inside ceramic floor tiles, it can be revealed.

The father of Brisbane Broncos NRL star Payne Haas was arrested in the Philippines on Wednesday and is being held in Manila while Indonesia prepares its attempt to have him extradited.

Gregor Johann Haas, the father of NRL star Payne, in an image provided by the Philippine government.Credit: Philippine Bureau of Immigration

“The drugs were seized by Indonesian authorities who later discovered via testimonies elicited from arrested drug couriers that the packages were sent by Haas from Guadalajara, Mexico,” the Philippine government said on Sunday.

“Indonesia authorities have accused Haas, who has alleged links to the Sinaloa drug cartel, of being behind the attempt to smuggle into Indonesia on December 11, 2023, a shipment of floor ceramics filled with more than five kilograms of the illegal methamphetamine drug substance.”

The Sinaloa cartel is one of the most powerful criminal organisations in the world. It was formerly headed by the drug kingpin known as “El Chapo”.

As revealed by this masthead on Friday, the quantity of drugs found in the December bust is more than enough to qualify Haas for execution in Indonesia if he is extradited and convicted.

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

Philippine Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the arrest, which involved co-operation between local, Indonesian and Interpol investigators, was “a major accomplishment of the BI [Bureau of Immigration] in its continuing drive to flush out wanted foreign criminals in the country.”

The Philippine government has not responded to questions about whether it would allow extradition, or if it would impose a condition that Haas not be executed in the case that he was ultimately found guilty.

Its statement said Haas was being held “pending deportation proceedings”. The precise meaning of this remained unclear. On Friday, the Indonesians said they expected “no problem” securing his extradition.

The Philippines is signed up to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which, if followed, would prevent it from sending Haas to a possible death sentence in another country.

ANU professor of international law Donald Rothwell said Haas could be used as a bargaining chip in the Philippines’ long-running attempt to bring home Mary Jane Veloso, who has been on death row in Indonesia for more than a decade.

Veloso flew to Indonesia for a bogus job as a maid in 2010 and was discovered with heroin in her luggage. Her bid for freedom rests on the claim that recruiters hid the drugs there without her knowledge.

Veloso’s case is the focus of media attention in the Philippines, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, is under pressure to secure her return.

Rothwell said Haas could also fight extradition in the Philippine courts, which would delay Indonesia’s attempts.

The last Australians to be executed in Indonesia were Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in 2015.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reaffirmed on Sunday Australia’s opposition to the death penalty.

“We will continue to make diplomatic representations in an appropriate way,” he said.

“One of the things that the Australian government does is we stand up for Australian citizens, we make appropriate representations through diplomatic channels. And we’ll be doing that on this occasion again.

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