A man has been arrested in Croatia and flown back to Australia after skipping court more than a decade ago.
The 43-year-old was flown into Western Australia on Friday night and was due to face Perth Magistrates Court on Saturday over drug charges.
He was originally due to face the same court on October 27, 2010 for one count of possession of a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply.
But he was a no-show and police now believe the man had already fled Australia by boat earlier that month.
WA Police Force commander Gordon Fairman said the man is believed to have travelled to countries including Indonesia, Netherlands, England, Spain and Greece.
He is believed to have changed his name multiple times and obtained a British passport in one of the aliases.
But justice finally caught up with the man earlier this year.
In August 2022 he was arrested by Croatian authorities at Dubrovnik airport thanks to an Interpol Red Notice - comparable to an international police warrant.
"For 12 years we have continued the investigation into this man's disappearance, and despite the measures he took to hide and change his identity, we never gave up the search for him," Cmdr Fairman said.
The commander also thanked Australian Federal Police in Serbia and the United Arab Emirates for their help, as well as other international counterparts.
© AAP 2022