The jet was preparing for takeoff when the pilot was told to return to the VIP terminal from the runway at Denpasar airport in Bali. (EPA Images pic)
DENPASAR: Indonesian authorities arrested an Australian fugitive hiding in the lavatory of a private jet as it was about to take off from the resort island of Bali, officials said Thursday.
Officers rushed onboard the plane after the pilot was ordered to return from the runway to the VIP Terminal at Bali’s Denpasar airport on Saturday.
Immigration officials had become suspicious of a man travelling on a Brazilian passport with no record of entry to Indonesia or a valid residence permit for the country.
The man and three other foreign passengers and three crew members were ready to depart from Bali’s capital for Maputo in Mozambique when the pilot received a call to stay on the tarmac.
Officials found three passengers in the cabin and their suspect hiding in the lavatory, Bali immigration authorities said in a statement.
Australian media identified the man as Angeli Pandelo, a prominent member of a motorbike gang linked to drug trafficking and wanted by Interpol.
He was apparently using someone else’s Brazilian passport to evade arrest.
According to the Australian Federal Police, the 55-year-old was suspected in a series of large-scale drug smuggling operations.
He was deported to Australia from Indonesia late Wednesday.
Indonesian authorities have vowed not to let the popular holiday island of Bali become a hideout for international criminals.
In April, a Scottish fugitive wanted in Spain for drug charges and money laundering was arrested at the island’s airport upon arrival and sent back to Europe.
