Australia has ordered the extradition of a former US Marine accused of training Chinese pilots

Former US Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan will be extradited from Australia to the United States on suspicion of illegally training Chinese pilots. Australian Attorney General Mark Dreyfus approved his extradition on Monday, ending a two-year effort by the 55-year-old to avoid extradition to the US.

Duggan, who served in the Marines for 12 years before moving to Australia and giving up his US citizenship, has been held in a maximum security prison since his arrest. he was arrested in 2022 at his family home in the state of New South Wales. He is a father of six children.

Dreyfus confirmed in a statement on Monday that he had agreed to extradition but did not say when Duggan would be extradited to the US.

“Duggan was given the opportunity to present his arguments as to why he should not surrender to the United States. In reaching my decision, I considered everything before me,” Dreyfus said in a statement.

In May, a Sydney judge ruled that Duggan could be extradited to the US, leaving an appeal to the attorney general as Duggan’s last hope of staying in Australia. Prosecutors say Duggan conspired with others to train pilots in China in 2010 and 2012, and possibly elsewhere. times, without applying for a proper license.

Prosecutors say he received payments of up to $61,000 and international travel in another conspiracy for what was sometimes described as “self-improvement training.”

If convicted, Duggan faces up to 60 years in prison.

He denies the allegations. “We feel abandoned by the Australian government and are deeply disappointed that they have completely failed in their duty to protect the Australian family,” said his wife, Saffrine Duggan, in a statement on Monday. “We are now considering our options.”