ASIO warns bikies, organised crime linked to antisemitism, hostile nations

Australia’s spy agency is targeting figures linked to organised crime and outlaw bikie gangs as it combats antisemitic attacks and plots by hostile nations to harm national security.

The revelation by ASIO director-general Mike Burgess that the underworld is now in his sights marks a dramatic pivot for the domestic security agency.

Historically, ASIO has focused on extremism and espionage, but it is now dealing with an increasing overlap between profit-driven criminal entities and those seeking to undermine Australian interests or community cohesion for political, strategic or other gain.

Burgess said he had “grave concerns” that unnamed hostile states were using bikies or other crime groups in Australia to advance their strategic interests.

In a warning to the criminal world that ASIO was now pursuing some of its members, Burgess told this masthead and 60 Minutes: “I would never have imagined that outlaw motorcycle gangs would be on our target list.

“If you [gangland figures] are tasked by someone from overseas, and you’re a criminal and you’re doing that for a fee and it is a threat to security, then ASIO will be on your case. I reckon that’s going to be a problem for you.”

Inside the Adass Israel Synagogue after the attack in December.Credit:

The decision by ASIO to make public its widening investigative focus has been sparked by two areas of concern for state and federal agencies: criminal entities being asked by hostile foreign state actors to target dissidents or carry out other attacks on domestic security; and the suspected involvement of gangland figures of varying seniority in antisemitic arson attacks.

Officers from Victoria’s Counter-Terrorism Command continue to investigate the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea by masked suspects who remain at large.

This masthead can reveal Victorian authorities are investigating whether the firebombing of the synagogue in December was carried out using the same gangland infrastructure utilised in some of the tobacco war arson attacks.

The tobacco war arson attacks have typically been outsourced to lowly foot soldiers via encrypted communications channels and other methodology that have made it difficult for authorities to trace the puppet masters.

In NSW, official sources confirmed evidence gathered so far has not implicated terrorists in any antisemitic incidents. Investigators are continuing to probe whether those behind the so-called caravan plot were seeking to gain a personal advantage, such as creating a scenario in which they could trade information with police in return for a benefit.

While no agency is yet willing to definitely rule out violent extremism as a motive in the caravan plot, there is growing consensus among security officials that early descriptions of the caravan plot as a “potential mass casualty event” were overblown.

Officials have assessed the two NSW residents who acquired the caravan as petty criminals with no terrorist motivation, while another suspect in the supply chain has links to the Jewish community which suggest he, too, had no motive beyond payment.

But there are also links to Sydney’s gangland: a suspect named on a search warrant has separately been accused of supplying stolen cars to the underworld.

The explosives were found inside a caravan at a Dural property in Sydney’s north-west on January 19.Credit: TNV

Asked if his warning to the criminal world was driven by police intelligence that antisemitic incidents might be directed by organised crime associated entities, Burgess declined to comment on specific investigations but said he was “sending a message” to criminals that “if you’re involved in this, we’ll be on your case”.

“I can assure you, if you are in such an organisation or you’re a criminal proxy and you’re being used by a foreign state, you don’t have to deal with law enforcement now you’ve got my agency to deal with, and that’s probably not welcome news to those individuals,” he said.

Burgess also confirmed that he was tracking cases overseas involving foreign state actors using crime gangs as proxies, including allegations in America that Iran had tasked the Hells Angels to murder a dissident.

The increasingly hybrid and diverse nature of the security threats being investigated by ASIO was the focus of Burgess’ annual threat assessment speech. In the speech, delivered on Wednesday, he warned that the nation was facing the most volatile security environment in 50 years.

While his public warnings to the criminal world will fuel discussion in Australia’s highly politicised security environment, they will not surprise veteran state and federal security officials.

Australian counter-organised crime authorities have for years stumbled on links between their targets and foreign state actors, including a 2011 plot involving Chinese intelligence officials seeking the help of a Sydney crime figure to smuggle weapons to Islamic militants in Iran and Lebanon.

In 2016, a senior federal police officer warned that Middle Eastern tobacco-smuggling gangs might be sending funds to extremists overseas.

But certain countries, including China and Russia, have increased their use of criminal proxies. In 2019, ASIO and Victoria Police jointly targeted Chinese gangsters aligned with Chinese Communist Party agencies.

In March last year, this masthead revealed how the nation’s peak counter-organised crime agency, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, had secretly designated as a top target a Chinese Communist Party operative in Fiji because of his suspected dual role trafficking drugs into Australia and promoting Beijing’s regional interests.

In May 2023, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw attacked unnamed “state actors” who “are using and profiting from organised crime”.

Police have also previously dealt with cases involving criminals attempting to get a discount in their prison term by dangling the promise of providing information of intense interest to counter-terror authorities.

For instance, several notorious gangland figures, including underworld figure Bassam Hamzy, previously sought reduced jail terms in return for revealing the location of still missing rocket launchers stolen from the Defence Force between 2001 and 2003.

For more on this story watch 60 Minutes on Sunday at 8.40pm.