A Polish man has been extradited from Venezuela to New Zealand - to face drugs and money laundering charges

A Polish man has been extradited from Venezuela to New Zealand - to face drugs and money laundering charges

3 November 2019

57-year-old Ryszard Wilk was arrested last July, after Interpol issued a global wanted notice - and has spent more than a year in a Venezuelan prison.



Wilk left our shores in April 2017 - after being accused of being part of a conspiracy led by a mystery West African mastermind, who was allegedly behind importing drugs into New Zealand.



An investigation into at least 10 people stretched from Auckland and Tauranga to Germany, eastern Europe, Ecuador and Venezuela.



The police investigation into the group included phone taps, a covert surveillance team, and 130-thousand-dollars of buried cash at Auckland's Bastion Point.



Wilk appeared in Auckland District Court on Thursday - he's due to reappear in February.





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