• Daniel Edmund Duggan, 54, was detained by the Australian Federal Police on Friday.
• Duggan is a former US military pilot and flying instructor who worked in China.
• He denied bail and transported to Bathurst jail after his lawyer appeared via videoconference.

According to Australian court filings and business records, a former US military pilot and flying instructor who worked in China was detained in Australia and is now facing extradition to the US.

Daniel Edmund Duggan, 54, was detained by the Australian Federal Police on Friday in the small town of Orange, New South Wales; court documents, two law enforcement sources, and his attorney all corroborated this.

According to two reports, Duggan was denied bail and transported to the neighboring Bathurst jail after his lawyer appeared through videoconference.

According to one of the police sources who was not authorized to talk in public, Duggan is a former US citizen, and the federal police were acting on a US request for his detention prior to what is likely to be formal extradition proceedings.

In November, Duggan will return to court in Sydney to have any bail requests heard. The charges against him and the specifics of the US arrest warrant are both sealed.

An individual was detained on October 21, 2022, in response to a request from the United States of America for their temporary detention, according to a written statement from a spokeswoman for the federal Attorney-Department. General’s It would not be acceptable to comment further because the subject is currently before the courts.

The arrest happened the same week that Britain ordered scores of former military pilots to quit working in China or risk being charged under new regulations for endangering national security. Australia is also looking into claims that some of its ex-fighter pilots have been contacted about jobs in China.

Due to Duggan’s employment in China, according to a source in aviation, the FBI was looking for him. Dennis Miralis, a lawyer for Nyman, Gibson and Miralis, said he was unable to respond.

After serving in the US military for ten years, Duggan relocated to Australia and founded a company called Top Gun Tasmania. He hired former US and British military pilots to give tourists joyrides in fighter aircraft, according to company documents and aviation sources.

According to three pilots, Duggan also performed in Australian air shows in ex-military aircraft.

Best Guns According to Tasmania’s website, Duggan was an air combat instructor and a Harrier jump jet pilot with the US Marines.

He sold Top Gun Tasmania shortly after moving to Beijing in 2014, according to Australian company papers.

According to Duggan’s LinkedIn page, he has been the managing director of AVIBIZ Limited, “a comprehensive aviation consultancy company with a focus on the fast growing and dynamic Chinese Aviation Industry,” in Qingdao, China, since 2017.

According to Hong Kong company documents, Australian passport holder Daniel Edmund Duggan registered AVIBIZ Limited there in 2017 and it was dissolved in 2020.

Duggan couldn’t be reached right away for comment.

The US government will have 60 days to submit an extradition request in accordance with the extradition agreement Australia has with the US. Australian citizens may be extradited under the treaty.

Also Read

China welcomes FATF’s decision to remove Pakistan from grey list

BEIJING: China has welcomed the decision of the Financial Action Task Force...