A former US college football player arrested as part of an FBI and NSW Police sting has been refused bail during a San Diego court appearance.
US Magistrate Judge Mitchell Dembin deemed Owen Hanson, 33, a flight risk on Friday, but did open the possibility he could be released from custody at a later date.
NSW Police hope to extradite Hanson to Sydney on arrest warrants for money laundering, perverting the course of justice, intent to defraud by false or misleading statement and supplying a large commercial quantity of drugs.
Hanson was allegedly part of a criminal network that laundered $US5 million through Sydney and Las Vegas casinos.
Hanson's arrest at the Park Hyatt Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, near San Diego, on Wednesday came as NSW police swooped on music promoter Andrew McManus, 54, crime figure Craig Haeusler, 55, Kings Cross solicitor Michael Croke, 65, and Auburn pastry shop owner Zeki Atilgan, 32.
Assistant US attorney Timothy Coughlin told the San Diego court that Hanson, in statements to an undercover agent, had said customers in Australia would buy a kilogram of cocaine from him for $US125,000, the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper reported.
He was also trying to get a fake Mexican passport under an assumed name.
The prosecutor described Hanson as a danger to the community who was associated in the US with a man nicknamed "Tank", who allegedly ran drugs and money for Hanson. The court also heard Hanson was associated with an enforcer in Australia known as "Hustler"
Investigations began back in 2011 when $A702,000 in cash was found in a Sydney hotel room.
Hanson, a former member of the powerhouse University of Southern California football team, in recent months wired hundreds of thousands of dollars to Mexican bank accounts, often in $US50,000 increments, the court heard.
The judge said Hanson could be released at a later date on a bond of at least $US1 million secured by property of a family member.
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