Rodrigo Elices: Alleged Hells Angels chief who fled Australia via WA extradited to face drug charges in NSW

An alleged Hells Angels kingpin accused of fleeing drug and weapons charges in Australia via a chartered flight from WA has been extradited after two years on the run. Authorities had been hunting for Rodrigo Elices across four countries since he allegedly flew to Thailand using a false passport. Detective Inspector Mathew Smith, from NSW Police’s anti-bikie Raptor Squad, said the 32-year-old was a key figure within an organised crime syndicate who had spent considerable effort evading Australian law enforcement. But he arrived at Melbourne Airport on Saturday, flanked by police on a flight from Manila. He has since been charged with more than 50 drug and firearm offences. Australian Federal Police tracked him down in Bangkok in January last year. Elices was tried and jailed for almost 11 months on immigration offences in Thailand, then given a royal pardon and directed to return to Australia. He was put on a flight to Brisbane, travelling via Manila in the Philippines. But after landing, Elices claimed he had a medical episode and booked a flight to Istanbul via Abu Dhabi. Authorities were alerted and he was denied entry into Turkey before being redirected to Abu Dhabi. Elices then tried to board a flight to Lebanon before being sent back to Manila. After being given the opportunity to voluntarily return to Australia, he instead bought a return ticket to Taiwan but was stopped from boarding the flight. Then, 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. Elices was refused bail when he appeared at Parramatta Local Court on Sunday and is due to return to court on Tuesday.