High-profile antisemitic attacks have been linked to organised crime, motivated by "twisted self-serving criminality" and not racial hate, police alledge.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00This is the first time the AFP has publicly provided details about Operation Kissinger,
00:06which is an investigation into those responsible for a caravan found with explosives and anti-Semitic
00:11material in Jura on the 19th of January.
00:15Within hours of the caravan being found, any perceived threat was mitigated and the investigation
00:20was referred to the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team, which includes the AFP, NSW Police,
00:27ASIO and the NSW Crime Commission.
00:31Almost immediately, experienced investigators within the Joint Counter Terrorism Team believed
00:36that the caravan was part of a fabricated terrorist plot, essentially a criminal con
00:41job.
00:42This was because of the information they already had, how easily the caravan was found and
00:48how visible the explosives were in the caravan.
00:51Also there was no detonator.
00:54Today I can reveal that the caravan was never going to cause a mass casualty event but instead
00:59was concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit.
01:05The JCTT discussed providing this information earlier to the public, however during our
01:10investigations we continued to receive tip-offs about other terror plots related to this matter.
01:18Out of an abundance of caution, it was agreed by all agencies that the operation would remain
01:22in the JCTT.
01:25While we are confident these tip-offs were fake, we could not risk ignoring the information
01:30provided and we kept investigating at the highest level.
01:35We are now confident that these tip-offs were fabricated and the caravan plot was an elaborate
01:39scheme contrived by organised criminals domestically and from offshore.
01:45There were several people who had different levels of involvement in this fake terrorism
01:49plot but put simply, the plan was the following.
01:53Organise for someone to buy a caravan, place it with explosives and written material of
01:58anti-Semitic nature, leave it in a specific location and then, once that happened, inform
02:04law enforcement about an impending terror attack against Jewish Australians.
02:10We believe the person pulling the strings wanted changes to their criminal status but
02:15maintained a distance from their scheme and hired alleged local criminals to carry out
02:20parts of their plan.
02:22However the plan was foiled.
02:24An AFP operational strategy is in place to take action against this individual and I
02:29won't make any further comment on that today.
02:32A number of people have been identified as part of this fake terrorism plot and the AFP
02:37is working with local and overseas law enforcement officials in our bid to have all of those
02:42responsible brought to justice.
02:45Regardless of the motivation of those responsible for this fake plot, this has had a chilling
02:50effect on the Jewish community.
02:52This twisted self-serving criminality has terrorised Jewish Australians.
02:59What organised crime has done to the Jewish community is reprehensible and it won't go
03:03without consequences.
03:05There was also unwarranted suspicion directed at other communities and that is also reprehensible.
03:12Those creating fake terror threats, including using anti-Semitism to elicit a desired response
03:18from law enforcement or the courts, face being charged for creating fake plots.
03:24And unfortunately for them, they will face the full experience, capability and dogged
03:29determination of terrorism investigators.
03:33This is a rare time I'll provide advice to criminals.
03:36Serve your time quietly in prison and stop diverting the resources of terrorism investigators.
03:42Otherwise your charges could be significantly upgraded.
03:46Too many criminals are accused of paying others to carry out anti-Semitic or terrorism incidents
03:51to get our attention and divert our resources.
03:54And too many offenders working in the criminal gig economy are accepting these tasks for
03:58money.
04:00In one example, the AFP will allege a prisoner last year tried to secure high-powered weapons
04:05for a fake terror plot so he could provide information to authorities in exchange for
04:10a reduction to his drug trafficking sentence.
04:14It was identified after the AFP found evidence of his alleged plan on an encrypted platform.
04:20He has been charged and now faces a longer term of imprisonment.
04:25The AFP has provided more than 90 members to support the activity today.
04:29We predict that more arrests will come.
04:31I would like to thank all of our partners within the Joint Counterterrorism Team for
04:36their collaboration, their experience and cool heads during what has been a very public
04:41investigation to date.