Police Nab Australian Cult Leader In Fiji Raid

A fugitive Australian cult leader has been arrested during a raid on a former resort in the South Pacific island nation of Fiji, authorities and reports said Sunday.

Police said Agape Ministries leader Rocco Leo was picked up by Fijian officials a week ago, along with two associates, for alleged visa breaches and remains in detention. It is not known whether he will be deported.

"It's the call of the Fijian authorities as to whether or not they (Rocco Leo and associates) are breaching any immigration laws or not," Detective Superintendent Jim Jeffery told reporters in Adelaide.

"If Fijian authorities determine that they are going to deport Rocco Leo, we will execute that (arrest) warrant," the Adelaide Advertiser reported him as saying.

"And if Rocco Leo is deported back to Australia we will extradite him from whatever state it is back to South Australia to put him before the courts."

In May 2010, Australian police raided 12 properties associated with Agape and netted 15 guns, slow-burning fuses, detonators, extendable batons and 35,000 rounds of ammunition.

Police have previously said they believed the Agape leaders were planning to move their organisation offshore, possibly to a Pacific island country.

Leo had reportedly told his followers they must move to Vanuatu before the end of the world, which he predicts will happen in 2012.

Adelaide's Sunday Mail newspaper said that the fugitive was detained at the former Tiri Villas eco-resort, about 35 kilometres (22 miles) from the Fijian capital Suva.

- By Agence France-Presse

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