A Queensland aviation company owner will face court today after allegedly trying to smuggle two wanted men into Indonesia on a "black flight".
It is alleged that the Woolshed man, who owns a central Queensland aviation company, organised a flight to sneak two alleged Australian fugitives to Indonesia and only listed the two co-pilots as people on board the flight.
The 43-year-old was arrested yesterday after Australian Federal Police executed search warrants in south-east Queensland and Rockhampton.
READ MORE: Security scare after Iranian player's change of heart over asylum decision
It was allegedly found that the two undeclared passengers were wanted by NSW Police for kidnapping and drug charges.
Police said the 34-year-old undeclared passenger was on bail for kidnapping offences and was under strict conditions to not leave the state.
His 35-year-old counterpart allegedly had three outstanding arrest warrants, including for large commercial drug supply and manufacturing.
The Australian co-pilot and the two men have been in Indonesian immigration detention since November 17 last year, and the plane used to fly the men to the nation was seized by Indonesian immigration.
Investigations by the AFP found that the Woolshed man allegedly had coordinated an extensive network of charter flights across multiple planes and companies over a week in an attempt to smuggle the men from NSW to North Queensland to Indonesia.
The first flight with the two fugitives took off from Orange in NSW on November 10 and headed to Cape York, police said.
Over the week, the two men were allegedly transported via helicopters and light aircraft to multiple locations in Far North Queensland.
Police said they caught a charter flight to Port Stewart and then boarded the "black flight", which allegedly did not activate its transponder between Coen and Port Stewart.
Once the plane was over international waters, the transponder was allegedly turned back on.
The Queensland aviation company owner was due to face Ipswich Court today and faces up to 10 years imprisonment after being charged with two counts of people smuggling.
"Black flights attempting to exploit the remoteness of North Queensland can try to fly under the radar by turning off transponders, but every time they land and take off at a remote airstrip, they attract attention," AFP Detective Superintendent Adrian Telfer said.
NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.
- Download the 9NEWS App here via Apple and Google Play
- Make 9News your preferred source on Google by ticking this box here
- Sign up to our breaking newsletter here