French connection: The AFP opens Paris office as they build ties with France in the Pacific

The Australian Federal Police open an office in Paris as they build ties with France in the Pacific, and expand their international footprint to 34 countries.

A member of Australian Federal Police lays a wreath during the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the 2002 Bali bombings. Picture: Dicky Bisinglasi/AFR/Pool

The Australian Federal Police has opened a new office in Paris as it strengthen its ties with France, a major player in the hotly contested Pacific region.

An Australian police post may also be opened in Berlin, as the AFP continues to expand its international footprint and tackle crime offshore.

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw is in Europe, where he has been meeting senior officials including the directors-general of the French National Police and the Gendarmerie Nationale in Paris.

Writing in Tuesday’s The Australian, Mr Kershaw flagged plans to expand the AFP’s international presence, saying he wanted to “take some crime fighting out of Australia to the source’’.

“About 70 per cent of trans­national serious organised criminals targeting Australia are offshore,’’ he said.

“More alleged offenders are being deported or extradited to Australia to face the justice system. Some of these cases are a direct result of the AFP taking crime fighting offshore. To do this requires an effective and trusted network.’’

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw officially opens the new forensic laboratory at the AFP Headquarters in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

In the past year, the AFP has succeeded in having several high-profile Australians accused of crime deported or extradited to Australia. This includes Mark Buddle, accused of drug-trafficking, returned from Cyprus, and Neil Prakash, accused of terrorism offences, returned from mainland Turkey. Tony Haddad was also deported from Turkey to face drug charges in Australia.

Australian Federal Police officers escort Neil Prakash from Turkey to Australia in December 2022. Picture: AFP

The alleged “Asian El Chapo’’, Tse Chi Lop, a ­Canadian-Chinese citizen, was extradited from The Netherlands on drug charges.

Turkish police also arrested a number of Australian fugitives in Istanbul early this month on domestic charges, including Australia’s most wanted man, drug kingpin Hakan Ayik, and his offsiders Hakan Arif, Erkan Dogan, Baris Tukel, Hasan Topal and Jimmy Awaijan. They are in custody in Istanbul.

The AFP has long had a presence in Europe – and worked closely in The Hague on the downing of MH17 by Russian separatists over Ukraine in 2014, in which 38 Australian residents or citizens lost their lives.

AFP officers have also been working closely with French police on child exploitation investigations, investigating drug trafficking, and on the increased Western police involvement in the Pacific, which is partially designed to counter creeping Chinese securitisation of the region.

The AFP has 120 officers stationed across the Pacific, including in Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

The AFP deliver specialist training and donated vehicles and weapons to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force. Picture: Australian Federal Police

France has historic ties in the Pacific and French is spoken in a number of Pacific nations, including New Caledonia, Vanuatu and French Polynesia.

Mr Kershaw writes that the AFP already has about 200 officers based in 34 countries.

As well as the new Paris liaison office, he said a 12-month feasibility study was under way to see if a post should be opened in Berlin. “These strategic and necessary posts come at the time of significant instability in the world,’’ he writes.