Kompas reports that Immigration Officers at Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport arrested Angelo Pandeli, a 55-year-old Australian man listed on an INTERPOL Blue Notice as a wanted man hiding in the toilet of an executive jet, apparently while trying to flee Indonesia.
Labeled by INTERPOL as a transnational criminal, Indonesian immigration authorities discovered that the Australian was concealing his real identity, attempting to travel using a passport belonging to another person, a Free Aceh Movement member from Brazil.
Gulfstream Executive Jet -N917CJ
At the time of his arrest, Pandeli was booked to travel on a US-registered Gulfstream Executive Jet (N917CJ), scheduled to depart at 10:00 am bound for Maputo, Mozambique.
The aircraft’s manifest listed three crew members who did not disembark the plane during the layover. Also listed were four passengers: ARR (Portuguese citizen), GAM (Brazilian citizen), GS (Italian citizen), and FMJ (Brazilian citizen). The Brazilian passenger was, in fact, Pandeli, traveling on a fake passport and identity.
Angelo Pandeli – A Man of Many Passports
During the immigration inspection process, irregularities were detected in the fake Brazilian passport used by Pandeli, which lacked any entry stamp or a valid residence permit in Indonesia. The other three passengers’ papers were found in order.
Moreover, the four passengers booked to leave on the private jet failed to follow airport authorities’ directions, including attempting to take off without formal tower permission, prompting immigration officials to board the aircraft quickly, where they found Pandeli trying to hide in the jet’s lavatory.
Police believe Pandeli is a key figure in a transnational organized drug cartel with links to the Hells Angels motorcycle gang in Australia. He is also believed to have lived in several Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries using various false identities.
Based on the use of a falsified passport, the INTERPOL “blue” notice, and requests from the Australian Federal Police (AFP). An INTERPOL “blue notice” is a warrant seeking additional information about criminal suspects or “persons of interest.”Pandeli has been deported back to Australia to face pending legal proceedings. Meanwhile, Indonesia has blacklisted Pandeli from any future visits to Bali and the rest of Indonesia.
In an explanation issued on Thursday (11/6/2026), the Head of the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, Bugie Kurniawan, emphasized that the steps taken were part of immigration oversight aimed at maintaining national security against transnational criminals traveling on international transportation. “We emphasize that there is no room for fugitives or transnational criminals to use Indonesia as a refuge,” said Bugie.
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