The father of NRL Broncos player Payne Haas has been arrested in the Philippines over an alleged drug smuggling plot, which could see him face the death penalty.

Gregor Johann Haas has been the subject of months-long investigations and is suspected of smuggling drugs in Asia, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported.

The 46-year-old was arrested in Cebu City on Wednesday and is now facing extradition to Indonesia.

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"We suspect him to have networks all over Asia, and we also suspect he has networks in Australia," National Narcotics Agency spokesperson Sulistyo Pudjo Hartono told the newspaper.

"We have good cooperation with Australian police, so we will work with them too."

Indonesian authorities have been searching for Haas after five kilograms of meth was allegedly discovered in December, according to local media outlet Tempo.

Haas also allegedly has links to a Mexican drug cartel according to multiple local news outlets and was found using the fake name Fernando Tremendo Chimenea.

Bureau of Immigration-Fugitive Search Unit chief Rendel Sy told outlet GMA Integrated News the arrest came as a result of a coordinated effort with US and Indonesian drug enforcement agencies.

"The search for him was quite challenging because he knows that the law is looking for him, so he uses different passports or IDs so that he can move freely while hiding," Sy claimed in an English translation of Filipino.

The incident happened around 9pm.

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Australian volunteers, who have been stranded in Vanuatu since an airline's collapse, have been offered a lift home on a luxury cruise ship. 

Sixteen students and their chaperones with the Hive Rotary Club in Albury were on the Pacific island of Tanna when Air Vanuatu unexpectedly declared insolvency last week.

Their club, whose travel insurance policy did not cover insolvency, has been left with $10,000 in out-of-pocket expenses and has been desperately searching for a way to bring the team home.

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Today, however, their luck turned around.

The group have got themselves on charter planes from Tanna back to Port Villa, where a P&O cruise has docked. The company has offered them a ride back to Australia on the six-day Pacific Adventure cruise.

The team were "thrilled" for the "opportunity of a lifetime", Hive Rotary Club president Kellie Kadaoui said in a social media post.

"All have answered a plea for help after being stranded following the collapse of Air Vanuatu," she said.

"P&O has come to the rescue by offering to bring us home. The team will board the ship in Port Vila … at no cost"

The cruise ship will arrive back in Sydney on Thursday.

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Air Vanuatu cancelled all its international flights last week, including those to Sydney and Brisbane, before declaring insolvency.

A statutory report to creditors later revealed the airline has an overall deficit of $US65.9 million ($98.6 million) and owes creditors $US73.5 million ($110 million).

"The company's financial position is dire and it clearly cannot fund its own operations," liquidators from Enrst and Young wrote in the report.

The Vanuatu government has stepped in with financial support as liquidators explore ways to keep the carrier operational.

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