KEY POINTS:
SYDNEY - One of NSW's most wanted men has been arrested in the United States after more than three years on the run.
Raphael Joseph, 30, is wanted in NSW for the gangland killing of Dimitri Debaz at a Sydney hotel in December 2002.
Debaz's death led to a spate of retaliatory crimes in Sydney's south-west, including drive-by shootings, kidnappings and attempted murders.
Joseph and a co-accused, Ramon Youmaran, were named in 2004 as being the subjects of arrest warrants for the alleged murder of Debaz.
Youmaran, 28, of Mount Pritchard, was arrested in June this year in a series of Sydney drug raids, and charged with Debaz's murder. He has been remanded in custody.
Joseph has reportedly been arrested by US authorities and is in custody in San Diego, California, awaiting deportation.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports Joseph was arrested by federal agents two weeks ago.
Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for Immigration and CustoEnforcement (ICE) in San Diego, told the newspaper Joseph was smuggled into the United States through Turkey, Thailand and Mexico.
He has been living in El Cajon, near San Diego, and working at a liquor store for the past two years.
He was living with a brother under the name Tony Toma, the report says.
US authorities are aware Joseph is wanted over the Debaz murder.
He is also reportedly accused of slashing a woman across the neck before punching her in the face after an argument in Queensland in 2002.
Joseph was arrested by ICE agents and El Cajon police acting on a tip from the Drug Enforcement Administration.
He is being held on immigration violations and may be deported to Australia, Mack told the Union-Tribune.
NSW Police said they could not confirm the arrest because they had been unable to contact US authorities.
Debaz was gunned down outside the Playhouse Hotel at Sefton, in Sydney's west, on December 13, 2002.
Joseph has been linked to a Sydney Assyrian crime syndicate known as the "dlasthr" (the last hour) gang.
Assyrians inhabit parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran.
- AAP
