Batam, Indonesia: The father of NRL star Payne Haas will be spared the death penalty if he is extradited to Indonesia and convicted there of serious drug charges.

Gregor Haas has been in prison in the Philippine capital of Manila since mid-May after he was busted in a dramatic sting for his alleged involvement in an attempt to smuggle about five kilograms of methamphetamine into Indonesia.

Police in Indonesia alleged the 47-year-old was connected to the infamous Sinaloa drug cartel and had tried to import the drugs into Jakarta inside a shipment of ceramic tiles sent from the Mexican city of Guadalajara.

If convicted in Indonesia, the quantity of drugs would be enough to qualify Haas for the death penalty, an untenable outcome for the Australian government, which has maintained a long-held position opposing capital punishment.

Marthinus Hukom, the head of Indonesia’s narcotics agency, said on Wednesday that senior government officials had promised Australian counterparts that they would take the death penalty off the table if Haas was sent to Indonesia.

“We made an agreement. We promised to make sure that it will not go to the death penalty,” Hukom said.

The decision has been spoken about in private for some time, but this is the first time a senior official has gone on the record. Haas still faces a lengthy sentence if found guilty in Indonesia.

Hukom hoped Indonesia would get Haas before its own courts, but said the government would explore a joint investigation into the alleged crimes with Australian police.