Australia Approves Extradition of US Marine Pilot Vet Accused of Training Chinese Military

Former U.S. military pilot Daniel Edmund Dugga in Tasmania, Australia, in a file photo. AAP Image/Supplied by Duggan family

Australia’s attorney general approved the extradition of a former U.S. Marine Corps pilot on Dec. 23 to face criminal charges in the United States for allegedly helping train Chinese military pilots.

U.S. federal prosecutors filed charges against Marine aviation veteran Daniel Duggan in 2017. Australian authorities arrested him in October 2022 and he has fought U.S. extradition efforts since then.

In May, a Syndey-based magistrate judge ruled that Duggan could be extradited to the United States to face charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Duggan appealed the decision to Australian Attorney General Mark Dreyfus. On Monday, Dreyfus concluded the extradition could proceed.

“Duggan was given the opportunity to provide representations as to why he should not be surrendered to the United States,“ Dreyfus said. ”In arriving at my decision, I took into consideration all material in front of me.”

Dreyfus did not specify exactly when Duggan would be transferred back to the United States. The Epoch Times reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice for more details but did not receive a response by publication time.

Duggan served 12 years in the Marine Corps before he moved to Australia and founded Top Gun Tasmania, a business that offered clients an opportunity to fly in military trainer jets. Duggan’s business biography noted his experience as an AV-8B Harrier jet pilot and as a weapons and tactics instructor for the U.S. military.

Federal prosecutors allege that between 2009 and 2012, Duggan and other coconspirators worked to obtain an export license to transfer a T-2 Buckeye trainer jet to a flight school in South Africa that helped train Chinese military pilots. Prosecutors further allege Duggan received multiple payments to help train Chinese pilots to meet the aviation standards of North Atlantic Treaty Organization pilots and to conduct carrier-based flight operations.

Duggan allegedly traveled to both China and South Africa as part of the training scheme.

The former U.S. military pilot stands charged with a count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He faces another two counts of exporting defense materials and services in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

He’s also charged with a count of conspiracy to commit money laundering as he handled the proceeds of his alleged efforts to help train Chinese military pilots.

If convicted, Duggan faces up to 60 years in prison. He has denied the allegations.

Duggan is a father to six children. His family expressed dismay at the extradition decision.

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

Court records do not specify who will represent Duggan as his case proceeds in the U.S. federal court system.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.