Police reveal details of caravan 'fake terrorism plot' for the first time

Australian Community Media

High-profile antisemitic attacks have been linked to organised crime, motivated by "twisted self-serving criminality" and not racial hate, police alledge.

Transcript

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.

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