A NSW fugitive will face extradition in the NT after police found him in Darwin inside the hull of a yacht that was about to set sail for Indonesia.

January 26, 2023

One of NSW’s most-wanted men has been found hiding in the hull of a yacht in Darwin as the vessel was attempting to sail overseas.

Northern Territory police arrested the 32-year-old, understood to be Mark Horne, as the vessel sailed out of Cullen Bay Marina on Wednesday afternoon.

“The team found a man hiding in the hull of the vessel … It was a very, very small space,” NT Police Commander Matt Hollamby said on Thursday.

“Most of us wouldn’t have fitted in but somehow he managed to squeeze in … It was a tricky search but he was eventually found in a very small confined hiding spot.”

Comm Hollamby said the joint organised crime taskforce that searched the yacht had a “fairly good idea there was a wanted man on the vessel (but) we weren’t particularly sure where”.

“It turned out it was who we thought it was,” he said.

“He wasn’t very happy.”

Comm Hollamby said the vessel was attempting to sail to Indonesia when it was stopped and it was the first time a fugitive had been found in the NT trying to flee the country in the hull of a yacht

“A person hiding in the bilge of a yacht departing the country is a little bit suspicious,” he said.

“Unusual for Darwin.”

Two men aged 52 and 43 were also arrested and have been charged in the NT over the alleged assistance they gave Horne.

The arrest ended a nationwide manhunt that started in October after Horne allegedly skipped bail.

Police do not know how long he had been in the NT.

Horne was due to face trial in NSW for allegedly being involved in the shooting of a truck driver and theft of $550,000 in the Blue Mountains in September 2020.

Horne will face an extradition hearing in Darwin on Monday.