POLICE have arrested one of the state’s most wanted figures in the Hunter.
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Police arrested 42-year-old Darren Rispen in Nelson Bay shortly before 11.30am on Monday over alleged drug and directing a criminal group offences.
The man has been wanted for nearly three years after he breached his bail in 2014 over the same offences.
Rispen, then 40, had been caught up in a Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS) investigation targeting a Sydney-based drug ring with international links.
Police have been searching for the fugitive for 2½ years after he failed to show up to court.
At the centre of the investigation was an eight-seater plane allegedly used by the syndicate to import drugs and guns.
The syndicate allegedly used pilot Bernhard Stevermuer and a finance company to buy the aircraft, which was then flown from the US to a number of locations before arriving in Australia.
Stevermuer was paid $70,000 to fly the plane from the US for the syndicate.
Police raided the plane at Illawarra Regional Airport in July 2014 and later alleged it was used to import $9 million worth of drugs.
Rispen was under investigation for his role in the syndicate that bought the plane for $400,000.
The plane was paid for through six bank transfers from five Chinese accounts.
The US Department of Homeland Security told investigating officers at least one of the accounts had been used suspiciously in the past to transfer large amounts of money from Asia to the United States.
In September 2014, police investigating the drug network uncovered a meth lab and seized a large amounts of drugs from properties in Sydney's south-west.
Rispen was allegedly behind those drugs and was later arrested and charged with 27 offences, including drug supply and directing a criminal group.
He was granted bail on the serious charges and then went to ground.
A warrant was issued for his arrest when he was a no show at Campbelltown Local Court in December 2014.
He is expected to be charged with the arrest warrant.
He was taken to Raymond Terrace police station and will appear at court on Monday.