Alleged people smuggler extradited from Indonesia

Australia has arranged for the extradition of an alleged people smuggler from Indonesia - the ninth person to be handed over since 2008.

An alleged people smuggler has been extradited from Indonesia to Australia to face charges more than three years after being the subject of an Interpol red notice.

Ahmad Zia Alizadah had allegedly been part of a smuggling syndicate in Indonesia which demanded thousands of dollars to organise people's passage to Australia when he became the subject of the international alert in 2014.

He was eventually arrested in Yogyakarta in Java in 2015 and has been in detention ever since, Indonesian sources told AAP.

He is now set to face prosecution in Australia for 10 people smuggling offences, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and Justice Minister Michael Keenan said in a joint statement on Friday.

"People smuggling is a crime with global dimensions that can only be tackled through hard work and cooperation with our international partners," the ministers said.

He is the ninth person to be extradited to face people smuggling charges in Australia since 2008, the ministers said.

Alizadah is understood to be the third alleged people smuggler to be extradited from Indonesia to Australia in the past two years.

It comes just months after Indonesian police uncovered two active networks operating in the archipelago, apparently undeterred by Australia's tough stance on border security.

One network - operating in Makassar on Sulawesi island, northeast of Bali - were in the midst of preparations to ferry Nepalese to Darwin by boat when they were shut down in January.

"We all know actually there has been tight guard by Australia, especially of Christmas Island ... but they still insisted on trying to go through this route," Brigadier General Herry Rudolf Nahak, of Indonesian National Police said of the men in March.


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Source: AAP


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