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24 January 2021, 7:40am
Media Release

Canadian national arrested in the Netherlands on AFP arrest warrant

*Editor’s Note: Vision of Operation Volante from 2013 is available via hightail.

A Canadian national has been arrested by the Central Unit of the National Police of the Netherlands on Friday (22 January 2021) after acting on an INTERPOL Red Diffusion issued by the Australian Federal Police.

The man, aged 57, is of significant interest to the AFP and other law enforcement agencies.

The AFP issued an arrest warrant for the man in 2019 in connection with AFP-led Operation Volante, which dismantled a global crime syndicate operating in five countries.

The syndicate targeted Australia over a number of years, importing and distributing large amounts of illicit narcotics, laundering the profits overseas and living off the wealth obtained from crime.

In 2013, the AFP announced that Op Volante had resulted in the arrest of 27 people for importing and trafficking substantial quantities of heroin and methamphetamine into Australia.

The AFP will work with the Attorney-General’s Department to prepare a formal extradition request.

No further comment will be made at this time.

Note to media:

An INTERPOL Red Diffusion is an international request for international cooperation between law enforcement agencies. Less formal than an INTERPOL Notice, a ‘Diffusion’ is circulated directly by a National Central Bureau to all or some of INTERPOL’s member countries.

For more information on INTERPOL Notices, visit the INTERPOL website.

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