A FORMER republican paramilitary and alleged drug trafficker faces extradition from Holland to Greece, where he is wanted in connection with a shipment of €50m (£37.4m) worth of cannabis.

Tommy Savage, 55, from north Dublin, was arrested last Wednesday in Amsterdam over allegedly trying to import more than four tons of cannabis into Athens in 1997.

Savage’s family say the arrest is illegal and that he has already faced the charges. They say the former INLA member is the victim of a campaign by the Dutch authorities to force him out of the country. Savage has been resident in the Dutch capital for 14 years and runs a small hotel. He says he halted all criminal activity years ago.

His son Dominic, who has travelled to Amsterdam to help his father, called upon Irish authorities to intervene.

“Tom has been involved in things in the past which he does not attempt to hide,” said Dominic Savage. “But he swears he has never been to Greece and he faced these charges last year. That time he walked from court a free man, so how can they pick him up again on the same charges and say they will deport him by Wednesday? “He faces no charges in Ireland and deserves some form of fair legal process as a citizen of the republic.”

The Greek authorities maintain that Savage was the main player in the importation attempt, aboard the ship Mare, and was planning to distribute cannabis throughout western Europe.

Nicknamed the Zombie by tabloid newspapers, Savage has a long history of paramilitary and criminal activity.

The Department of Justice said: “The minister has no function in relation to European arrest warrants between other member states.”

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