The father of Brisbane Broncos NRL star Payne Haas has been arrested in the Philippines on drug trafficking charges with reports he could face the death penalty in Indonesia.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Gregor Johann Haas was arrested in Cebu City in the Philippines on Wednesday and now faces extradition to Indonesia, having allegedly evaded Indonesian authorities since last December.
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Head of the Public Relations and Protocol Bureau of National Narcotics Board (BNN), Brigadier General Sulistyo Pudjo Hartono, said Indonesian authorities had been tracking the 46-year-old after a drug trafficking case from December 5, 2023, when he was found with 5kg of crystal methamphetamine.
While Haas is currently detained in the Philippines, Hartono said authorities were working on extradition to Indonesia.
“We will immediately take him and ask him to reveal his network in Indonesia and other places. He used to move a lot, not only in Indonesia but other countries as well,” Hartono said via Indonesian news agency ANTARA.
The SMH reported Hartono saying: “We suspect him to have networks all over Asia, and we also suspect he has networks in Australia.
“We have good co-operation with Australian police, so we will work with them too.”
However, the report appears to suggest that extradition is no certainty as “one senior figure from the Indonesian National Police believed Australia’s ‘approval’ was necessary”, although Professor of international law at Australian National University Donald Rothwell told the masthead Australia wouldn’t need to be involved.
The Philippines were also a signatory in an international agreement that prohibits extradition if it led to execution.
Australia is no stranger to Indonesia’s hard-line stance on drug traffickers after the Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were put to death in 2015 after a plan to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin from Indonesia to Australia.
The SMH reported the Broncos confirmed it was aware of the incident and was offering support to Haas, who would play for the club against Manly on Friday night at the NRL’s Magic Round.
There are no suggestions any other Haas family members are involved in the allegations levelled at Gregor Haas.
The Courier Mail reported in March that Payne Haas had taken custody of his two younger brothers after Gregor had moved overseas to focus on business interests.
It comes after Haas’ mother Uiatu “Joan” Taufua faces manslaughter charges over a horror crash that killed three people in December 2022.
The news comes just days after South Australian man Troy Smith was taken into Indonesian custody while on holiday in Bali with his wife.
It is alleged Mr Smith was carrying 3.5g of methamphetamine.
Indonesian law carries strict anti-drug law and the Port Lincoln father could face a lengthy stint in prison if found guilty.
A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman said the department was providing “consular assistance to an Australian man detained in Bali”.
“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.”
Source Agencies
