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.

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.

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.