After high-drama capture, Haas' life all but rests in the hands of Australian diplomats

Source: The Age

Manila: The Philippine government will involve Australia in a potentially life-or-death decision about what to do with accused drug trafficker Gregor Haas, raising the prospect of a diplomatic solution that could spare him the worst of Indonesian justice.

The father of Brisbane Broncos NRL star Payne Haas faces execution if he is extradited to Indonesia and convicted there. He is accused of sending five kilograms of methamphetamine from Mexico to Indonesia in a shipment of ceramic tiles, which was intercepted on December 11 last year.

Haas was arrested in the Philippines last week in a dramatic and highly planned joint operation between local police and a contingent of Indonesian investigators who had travelled to Cebu City for the sting.

In a possible high-stakes test for the Albanese government, the case has the makings of a diplomatic tangle between Indonesia, Australia and middleman the Philippines.