Interpol Fugitive Australian National Arrested While Boarding Private Jet in Bali

The Ngurah Rai Immigration Office in Bali thwarted the departure of an Australian national, identified by the initials AP (55), who is an Interpol fugitive suspected of involvement in transnational crime. AP is known to be an influential figure in a Transnational Serious Organised Crime (TSOC) network and a prominent member of a motorcycle gang. ‘The individual used someone else’s travel document to deceive immigration officers at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali,’ said Head of Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, Bugie Kurniawan, on Thursday (11/6). The capture of AP began on Saturday (6/6) at around 22.00 WITA, when immigration officers conducted an immigration inspection on passengers of a private CAPA JATE aircraft with flight number N917CJ, travelling the Denpasar to Maputo, Mozambique route, at the South Terminal of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport. The aircraft, Bugie explained, was carrying three crew members and four foreign national passengers: Portuguese national ARR, Brazilian national GAM, Italian national GS, and Brazilian national FMJ. ‘The immigration inspection process detected an anomaly in a passenger with a Brazilian passport under the name GAM, who had no record of entry clearance or a legal residence permit in Indonesia,’ he stated. Bugie said the three other passengers had complete documents, raising suspicion about GAM’s documents. The entire group then covertly boarded the aircraft without permission and prepared for take-off, ignoring the officers’ instructions. Responding to the situation, immigration officers ordered the aircraft to return from the runway to the VIP Terminal. After the plane was successfully forced back, officers conducted a sweep and found GAM hiding inside the aircraft’s toilet. The other three passengers were in the cabin. Bugie added that further examination revealed the Brazilian passport under the name GAM was counterfeit. The true identity of the 55-year-old man is AP, an Australian citizen born in Whyalla, Australia. Furthermore, the system detected that AP was on the Interpol HIT list with a 100 per cent match score as a suspect. ‘Based on a request for information from the National Central Bureau (NCB) Canberra, AP is allegedly a fugitive being sought by international law enforcement in connection with a transnational crime case,’ he said. Based on the Interpol notice documents, AP is known to be an influential figure in a TSOC network and a prominent member of a motorcycle gang. Additionally, Bugie stated that according to the Australian Federal Police (AFP), AP is responsible for a series of large-scale illegal narcotics smuggling operations into Australian territory. In response to the findings, the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office immediately coordinated with the Narcotics Crime Directorate of the Indonesian National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency and the Indonesian National Police’s International Relations Division to investigate the case. In parallel, the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) inspected the aircraft and all its cargo. Bugie said the three other passengers’ departure has been postponed while the investigation is ongoing. AP, meanwhile, has been detained and will subsequently be deported to face legal proceedings in Australia. ‘We affirm that there is no room for fugitives or transnational criminals to use Indonesia as a place of refuge,’ he stated.