Aussies hoping to give the U.S. one of their bad boys back
Super smuggler out of options in bid to beat extradition to US
Louise Hall
ONE of the world's most notorious drug smugglers may finally be extradited to the US after a seven-year battle to remain in Australia.
George Paul Brock is wanted by the FBI for his alleged role in the importation of almost 300 tonnes of cannabis into the US in the 1980s.
Mr Brock was jailed for eight years in 2001 after pleading guilty in the Sydney District Court to importing about $100 million worth of cannabis into Australia.
The US citizen has remained in custody in Silverwater
jail's maximum security remand centre since he was paroled in March
2005. He has launched numerous legal challenges to the Australian
Government's decision to extradite him to his home country, arguing that
the Minister for Home Affairs acted on incomplete or incorrect
information and that he was denied procedural fairness.
But Mr Brock may have exhausted all avenues of appeal, the Full Federal Court last month dismissing his latest attempt to have quashed the warrants issued by the Australian Federal Police on behalf of the US Government.
The three appeal judges found the information put before the Minister did not misdirect him and there was no denial of procedural fairness.
A spokeswoman for the acting Minister for Home Affairs, Nicola Roxon, said Mr Brock had 28 days from the date of the decision to seek special leave of the High Court to appeal. However, the High Court refused Mr Brock's applications for special leave in August 2007 and July 2009.
Mr Brock is wanted in the US state of Illinois for importing and distributing 30,000 kilograms of marijuana between 1980 and 1987.
He was one of the FBI's most wanted men and had managed to avoid capture for a decade before he was bought down by the AFP trying to import 10 tonnes of cannabis resin in 1997. The shipment was carried on board a 650-tonne oil tanker MV Hiddensee owned by Mr Brock, which was seized off the coast of NSW after a tip-off.
Attorney-General's department figures show Mr Brock has spent more time in extradition custody than any other person being held in Australia.
George Paul Brock is wanted by the FBI for his alleged role in the importation of almost 300 tonnes of cannabis into the US in the 1980s.
Mr Brock was jailed for eight years in 2001 after pleading guilty in the Sydney District Court to importing about $100 million worth of cannabis into Australia.
But Mr Brock may have exhausted all avenues of appeal, the Full Federal Court last month dismissing his latest attempt to have quashed the warrants issued by the Australian Federal Police on behalf of the US Government.
The three appeal judges found the information put before the Minister did not misdirect him and there was no denial of procedural fairness.
A spokeswoman for the acting Minister for Home Affairs, Nicola Roxon, said Mr Brock had 28 days from the date of the decision to seek special leave of the High Court to appeal. However, the High Court refused Mr Brock's applications for special leave in August 2007 and July 2009.
Mr Brock is wanted in the US state of Illinois for importing and distributing 30,000 kilograms of marijuana between 1980 and 1987.
He was one of the FBI's most wanted men and had managed to avoid capture for a decade before he was bought down by the AFP trying to import 10 tonnes of cannabis resin in 1997. The shipment was carried on board a 650-tonne oil tanker MV Hiddensee owned by Mr Brock, which was seized off the coast of NSW after a tip-off.
Attorney-General's department figures show Mr Brock has spent more time in extradition custody than any other person being held in Australia.
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