Squatters are starting to leave a northwest Calgary duplex under police supervision, potentially ending a high-profile occupation of what a tenant had claimed was his embassy.

Most of the squatters remain indoors, though they have been loading a vehicle with their belongings.

Police have also cuffed and searched a friend of those who have been staying inside the apartment. Officers loaded him into a cruiser and later took him away.

"We are leaving in peace," a man from the house wearing a purple shirt, who didn’t identify himself, said earlier on Friday.

"We didn’t realize that all this was this way. I regret I wasn’t informed before that anything was going down this way."

Early this morning, Calgary police arrested Freeman-on-the-Land Mario Antonacci, also known as Andreas Pirelli, who had refused to pay rent and leave the Parkdale duplex.

The arrest came hours before an eviction deadline tonight at midnight.

A group of people took up residence shortly after and declared the rental duplex their own "embassy."

A man declaring himself a member of the "Deneza Country" earlier told the Herald the group planned to stay put.

"I’m going to stay here for now. We’re staying by international law that all lands are Indian lands," he said earlier.

Antonacci was arrested on a Canada-wide warrant without incident and remains in police custody.

Arrangements are being made to transport him to Montreal within the next six days to face aggravated assault charges.

Calgary police say they are working to resolve the situation with the people in the home.

Duplex owner Rebekah Caverhill has been trying to evict Antonacci for the past two years, but never had a formal rental contract.

When Antonacci changed the locks and declared her property his own, she was horrified to learn he had taken over the entire space, painting the floor and bedroom black.

The messy suite also sported a boardroom table with chairs in the basement, where Caverhill said he was holding civil disobedience classes.

"I’m relieved," she told the Herald Friday morning.

Now, she says while she’s grateful police have removed Antonacci from her property, she fears she may be facing costs to repair the duplex.

"That’s what scares me, I’ve got a lot of expenses," she said from her Sylvan Lake area home.

The man at the house said he was sorry for any hardship caused to the Caverhill.

"If any harm was done to the lady we sincerely apologize, I wasn’t aware until later on when I got in, now I’m here," he said.

"I know this is her house and she can have it."

The man also told reporters: "I’m not under your jurisdiction. We do not subject to this kind of tax. I will go to the right representative to bring peace to this situation as soon as possible."

Caverhill said she had been fighting to oust Antonacci from the duplex for two years, after he declared the property an “embassy,” changed locks, billed her for work done on the place and had a lien placed on the property.