Australian Ex-US Marine Pilot Faces Extradition to US After Losing Appeal

A former US Marine pilot, Daniel Duggan, has lost his appeal against extradition from Australia to the US, where he faces charges of illegally training Chinese pilots. Duggan, 57, an Australian citizen, was arrested in October 2022 in the city of Orange, New South Wales, at the request of the US government.

The US claims that Duggan broke arms-trafficking laws by training Chinese fighter pilots in South Africa between 2010 and 2012 without permission from the US government. Duggan denies these allegations and has renounced his US citizenship.

Extradition Appeal Dismissed

A Federal Court judge dismissed Duggan's appeal on Thursday, paving the way for his removal to the US. Duggan's wife, Saffrine, expressed disappointment with the decision and called on the government to intervene. She stated that her husband is "an ordinary Australian going about his business who broke no Australian law".

Duggan's lawyer had argued that Australia should oppose the extradition because it did not have an equivalent law covering the US charges. However, in 2024, the then-Attorney General Mark Dreyfus approved the extradition. Duggan now has 28 days to appeal the Federal Court decision, which also includes an order to pay the government's costs.

According to Saffrine Duggan, the years-long case has cost the family about half a million dollars, and they have struggled to fund it after an injunction was placed on their home, preventing them from selling it. She said, "[It's been] 1,273 days of our family suffering terrible trauma since Dan was arrested in a supermarket car park after dropping our kids at school".

Duggan, a father of six, is currently being held in a maximum security prison and faces up to 65 years in prison if found guilty of the charges against him.