An accused bikie boss has grinned and winked at shocked airline passengers after the suspected drug runner was extradited to Australia after two years on the run.
Alleged Hells Angels kingpin Rodrigo Elices, 32, arrived at Melbourne Airport on Saturday, flanked by police on a flight from Manila.
The accused drug dealer was detained on charges which related to more than 400 grams of meth, more than 280 grams of MDMA and 4kg of lethal party drug GBL – sold on the streets as GHB.
Elices was also allegedly linked to 11 firearms, ammunition and ballistic vests police seized from a property in Kensington, in Sydney‘s inner east, on December 15, 2022.
In October 2022, detectives from the State Crime Command’s Raptor Squad established a strike force to investigate the supply and distribution of cocaine by a syndicate allegedly linked to Elices.
Elices was shackled in cuffs and led away in front of stunned passengers at Melbourne Airport.
He has since been charged with 55 drug and firearm offences.
Accused Hells Angels bikie boss Rodrigo Elices grins at airline passengers
NSW Police Raptor Squad detective Inspector Mathew Smith said Elices was a key figure within an organised crime syndicate who had spent considerable effort evading Australian law enforcement.
Authorities had been hunting for Elices across four countries since he allegedly flew to Thailand on a chartered flight using a false passport. In January last year, Australian Federal Police tracked him down in Bangkok.
Elices was arrested on November 8 last year by Thai authorities before being tried and jailed for almost 11 months on immigration offences.
In October, the alleged Hells Angels member was given a royal pardon and directed to return to Australia.
Elices was deported from Thailand and put on a flight to Brisbane, travelling via Manila in the Philippines.
But after arriving in Manila, Elices claimed he had a medical episode and booked a flight to Istanbul via Abu Dhabi to avoid returning to Australia, police said.
Authorities in Manila, Abu Dhabi and Ankara were alerted and Elices was denied entry into Turkey before being redirected to Abu Dhabi, where he landed on November 7.
Elices then tried to board a flight to Lebanon before being sent back to Manila.
Elices is led off the plane by police at Melbourne airport
Victoria Police Viper Squad members lead Elices away in handcuffs
After being given the opportunity to voluntarily return to Australia by the Philippines Bureau of Immigration, police said Elices instead purchased a return ticket to Taiwan.
He was stopped from boarding the flight.
For three weeks, Elices remained inside the transit area at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport under an order preventing him from entering the Philippines.
‘He was confined to a chair and he was guarded by two staff at the Bureau of Immigration … the only way he was allowed to leave that chair was to book a flight to Australia,’ Det Insp Smith said on Monday.
After being ‘forcibly deported’ on November 30, Elices was finally arrested at Melbourne Airport.
‘It’s been a long journey for him … by the time he got back in the country he sort of succumbed to the fact he was going to face court in NSW for these offences,’ Det Insp Smith said.
Authorities would also be investigating Elices’ access to funds while overseas.
Elices was refused bail on Sunday when he appeared at Parramatta Local Court.
He is due to return to court on Tuesday.
