Border strike force boost to bust crime gangs

Ahead of border openings, a strike force armed with sweeping powers to block the importation of drugs and firearms into Australia has been expanded.

‘This taskforce is sending a very clear message that criminal enterprises are not welcome here in Australia’: Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. Picture: Che Chorley

A strike force armed with sweeping powers to cut off organised crime supply chains and block the importation of drugs and firearms into Australia has been expanded ahead of the gradual reopening of international borders.

The Operation Centinel joint agency taskforce, led by the Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force, will be boosted by investigators and experts from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Austrac and Department of Home Affairs.

This month, ABF officers received police enforcement powers after being sworn-in as AFP special members, giving them authority to execute search warrants in response to migration, visa, trade, citizenship and Customs offences.

Amid major COVID-19 shocks to the Australian illegal drugs market, Operation Centinel is identifying “vulnerabilities within Australia’s air and maritime supply chain” to “harden” the country’s borders against illegal drug and weapons importation.

AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney said Operation Centinel, which has seized more than $1bn of methamphetamine and heroin, would use wide-­ranging powers to “disrupt and prosecute criminals who seek to breach Australian supply chains”.

“There’s a reason why the AFP and partner agencies work tirelessly to stop drugs, firearms and other contraband from breaching our border — it’s to keep the suburbs of Australia safe,” he said.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said Operation Centinel would help stamp-out ‘criminal networks targeting some of our most vulnerable, including children’. Picture: Getty Images

“Taskforce Centinel will triage law enforcement intelligence to ensure agencies have the right resources and capability to disrupt and prosecute criminal syndicates.

“The taskforce will work with state and territory police through existing joint arrangements. The AFP, through Taskforce Centinel, will unleash ­maximum damage on the criminal ­environment.”

In addition to intelligence gathering, offshore disruption, industry engagement, enhanced Customs enforcement and police investigations, the joint taskforce will provide advice to the government on legislative and policy reforms to support the crackdown on illegal ­supply chains.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said Operation Centinel would help stamp-out “criminal networks targeting some of our most vulnerable, including children”.

He said extra powers provided to security agencies operating in all states and territories would bust crime gangs and “prosecute those who seek to harm Australians”.

“This taskforce is sending a very clear message that criminal enterprises are not welcome here in Australia,” Mr Dutton said.

“By making this a portfolio-wide ­effort, we can expand our operations even further to make sure we can identify, target and disrupt these supply chains offshore and at the border.”

While the global pandemic has significantly dented the ability of Australian crime gangs to import drugs, security agencies are keen to demonstrate that organised crime has not shut down during the COVID-19 crisis.

Criminal groups have been forced to adapt their illegal business operations, with domestic border closures also impacting on the movement of illicit substances across Australia.

The Western Australia Police Force earlier this year told a parliamentary ­inquiry that Mark McGowan’s border ban had smashed the state’s drug trade and driven down crime rates.

The aim of Operation Centinel is to dismantle the business models of serious and organised crime syndicates at the border, targeting criminal infiltration across maritime, air and international mail supply chains.

In response to increasingly complex and interconnected supply chains, the strike force will improve the country’s ability to “identify criminality and non-compliance” in global supply chains.

The Australian understands that ABF personnel sworn-in as AFP special members have undergone specialised training and are now “Use of Force” qualified.