Crook con job: Dural caravan find a ‘fabricated terrorist plot’: AFP

Fourteen people are in custody after federal and state police investigating organised crime links to the Dural caravan terror plot raided a number of homes across Sydney on Monday.

The Dural caravan was a “fabricated terrorist plot” masterminded by organised crime figures and was “never going to cause a mass casualty event”, police have revealed after raiding homes across Sydney today.

More than 250 investigators from NSW Police and the AFP carried out 11 search warrants on Monday, with 14 people in custody and 49 charges related to Strike Force Pearl — the anti-Semitism investigation — and Operation Kissinger — the caravan investigation.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson said it was believed the criminal mastermind behind the plot had hoped for benefit to their charges or prison sentence, by handing over information about the fake caravan plot.

AFP Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett said investigators had believed from early on that the caravan plot was “fabricated” but they had to treat the threat at its highest.

“Almost immediately, experienced investigators in the Joint Counter Terrorism Team that the caravan was part of a fabricated terrorist plot, essentially a criminal con job. “This was because of the information they already had, how easily the caravan was found and how visible the explosives were in the caravan (and) also there was no detonator.

“The caravan was never going to cause a mass casualty event, but instead was concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit.”

Derriwong Rd in Dural where a caravan was found by locals, and police authorities, in January. Picture: Thomas Lisson

Scott Marshall and Tammie Farrugia were arrested on the “periphery” of the investigation, but have not been charged over the caravan plot.

“Put simply the plan was the following: Organise someone to buy a caravan, place it with explosives and written material of anti-Semitic nature, leave it in a specific location and then once that happened, and inform law enforcement about an impending terror attack against Jewish Australians.

“We believe the person pulling the strings wanted changes to their criminal status but maintained a distance from their scheme and hired alleged local criminals to carry out parts of their plan.”

Criminals have long handed over weapons and information in an effort to get time off their sentence for their assistance.

The AFP last year separately uncovered an alleged fake terror plot, in which a gang claimed to have access to guns, bombs, hand grenades, rocket launchers and flags with terrorist insignia – which they planned to tell authorities about.

Dep Comm Hudson said it was similarly believed some of the anti-semitic attacks across Sydney had been spurred on by crime figures.

He said the spree of graffiti and firebombing attacks were “orchestrated by an organised crime element” and that none of those “arrested through Strike Force pearl have shown anti-semitic ideologies”.

Premier Chris Minns praised the “dogged” investigations of police after what he called a “summer of hateful, vicious incidents”.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson said it was believed the criminal mastermind behind the plot had hoped for benefit to their charges or prison sentence. Picture: Richard Dobson

“A huge amount of resources have been thrown at these investigations... there is no mistake that these acts have wrought fear and anxiety in our Jewish community and we will not tolerate this, not now, not ever,” Mr Minns said.

“Police will allege that those arrested today for the most serious of these crimes had criminal and financial motives.

“But nobody should be in any doubt, we have endured a summer of hateful, vicious incidents such as vile antisemitic graffiti attacks and many of these appear to have been motivated simply by nasty, racist hatred. We can never accept that.”

Police allege the caravan filled with mining explosives had been placed there on December 7.

The Telegraph revealed on January 29 that a local resident had towed it out of the way and onto his property fearing it would cause a dangerous crash because of where it was parked, before discovering the stash of explosives and notes containing the addresses of the Great Synagogue and Sydney Jewish Museum.

Another note reading “f**k the Jews” was also allegedly located inside.

Premier Chris Minns and Deputy Police Commissioner David Hudson address the media in relation to the caravan discovery in January. Picture: Richard Dobson

NSW Premier Chris Minns called the incident a “terrorism” event as he addressed the media alongside NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson at a press conference on the night the news broke.

“This is the discovery of a potential mass casualty event. There is only one way of calling it out, and that is terrorism,” Mr Minns said.

On the day The Telegraph broke news of the caravan’s discovery, a source said: “Some things don’t add up … it could well possibly be a set up”.

That same night, Dep Comm Hudson said investigators were already looking at organised crime links to the plot.

Tammie Farrugia, her boyfriend Scott Marshall and his mate Simon Nichols have all been arrested on the “periphery” of the investigation into the caravan, but not charged in relation to it.

Each of the trio was named in full on AFP search warrants relating to the investigation.

Originally published as Crook con job: Dural caravan find a ‘fabricated terrorist plot’: AFP