Former US military pilot arrested in Australia on FBI warrant over work in China

Daniel Edmund Duggan moved to Australia after a decade in the US military. A source said the FBI had sought his arrest due to his work in China

The arrest came the same week Britain warned dozens of former military pilots to stop working in China or face prosecution under new laws

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A US Harrier jump jet lands aboard an aircraft carrier in the Middle East. Daniel Edmund Duggan reportedly flew Harrier jets in the US Marines and was an air combat instructor. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:01pm, 25 Oct 2022Updated: 3:02pm, 25 Oct 2022

A former US military pilot and flight instructor who worked in China was arrested in Australia and faces extradition to the United States, Australian court documents and company records show.

Australian Federal Police arrested Daniel Edmund Duggan, 54, on Friday in the rural town of Orange in New South Wales, and he appeared in court there on the same day, court records show and two police sources and his lawyer confirmed.

His lawyer appeared by videoconference, and Duggan was denied bail and taken to the nearby Bathurst jail, two of the sources said.

Duggan is a former US citizen and the federal police were acting on a US request for his arrest ahead of likely formal extradition proceedings, said one of the police sources, who was not authorised to speak publicly.

Duggan’s next court appearance will be in Sydney in November to consider any bail application. Details of the US arrest warrant and the charges he faces are sealed.

“An individual was arrested on October 21 pursuant to a request from the United States of America for their provisional arrest,” a spokesman for the federal Attorney-General’s Department said in a written statement. “As the matter is before the courts, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”

The arrest came the same week Britain warned dozens of former military pilots to stop working in China or face prosecution on national security grounds under new laws. Australia is also investigating reports some of its former fighter pilots have been approached to work in China.