AFP chiefs to re-sign three security agreements in Beijing, as Wang heads to Canberra

The nation’s most senior police chief has landed in Beijing to seal a raft of significant deals with Chinese security officials for tackling drugs and transnational crime.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw will sign three top-level agreements with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security. Picture: Martin Ollman / NCA NewsWire

The nation’s most senior police chief has landed in Beijing to seal a raft of significant deals with Chinese security officials for tackling drugs and transnational crime.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw will recommit to three agreements with China’s Ministry of Public Security early this week, with the top cop saying the Beijing visit enhances crime-fighting arrangements to dismantle drug cartels targeting the Asia-Pacific region.

The Australian can reveal Mr Kershaw and AFP deputy commissioner Lesa Gale – who oversees international and specialist capabilities – will re-sign the policing arrangements on Tuesday as the AFP celebrates 25 years since it opened its first office in China.

Despite the Morrison government’s poor relations with Beijing ahead of the 2022 federal election, the AFP maintained a presence in China during the pandemic to continue the fight against the region’s drug traffickers.

The AFP Commissioner’s trip to Beijing – the highest-level police delegation in recent years – comes days before Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Penny Wong in Canberra this week. It is Mr Wang’s first visit to Australia since 2017.

Mr Kershaw, who will miss the AFP’s Senate estimates inquiry spillover session on Tuesday, said “to protect Australians and our way of life, the AFP has made it a priority to work with international and domestic agencies to help stop illicit drugs at source countries”.

While the AFP is focusing operations on Sydney, Melbourne and South Pacific transhipment countries, Chinese officials are targeting syndicates operating out of Guangdong, Fujian, Shanghai, Zhejiang and other provinces with established drug routes to Australia.

Taskforce Blaze, a joint operation since 2015 between the AFP and Office of China National Narcotics Control Commission, has seized 28 tonnes of drugs and precursors including more than 11 tonnes of illicit substances stopped in China that were destined for Australia.

Around 17 tonnes of drugs, including cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine, heroin, ketamine, fentanyl and safrole oil, were apprehended by Australian authorities based on information shared between agencies.

Mr Kershaw said “illicit drug traffickers, who used violence and fear to maintain their illegal business, were corroding Australian and Pacific Island communities”.

“Some of the most horrific crimes in Australia, whether they be murders, vehicle deaths, sexual assaults, child sex abuse or child neglect, have a nexus with illicit drugs. And those trafficking illicit drugs are a national security threat,” he said.

“They attempt to corrupt officials and key logistics workers, they use the Australian financial system to launder illegal wealth, and they use the proceeds of illicit drug trafficking to bankroll more crime in Australia and our region.

“The AFP understands why so many Australians would find it unjust that during cost-of-living pressures, organised criminals use the proceeds of crime to live life large. It is right for the community to question, and for law enforcement to take action, when criminals drive around in luxury cars, live in multimillion-dollar homes and spend a small fortune on jewellery and handbags.”

Mr Kershaw said the AFP was the “first Western foreign policing agency to establish its presence in Beijing, which later expanded with the opening of the Guangzhou office in 2007”.

Acknowledging 25 years in partnership with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, Mr Kershaw said the world had changed significantly since 1999. In addition to reaffirming Taskforce Blaze arrangements, he will re-sign agreements with Chinese officials to “combat other crime, further co-operate on matters that impact Australia (and) combat transnational crime”.

Mr Kershaw said the transnational crime arrangements focused on exchanging relevant information and providing assistance “across a broad range of criminal issues”.

“Our collective partnerships have … required adjustments to allow us to effectively combat a raft of domestic, regional and international crime threats and challenges. The productive partnerships between the Australian and Chinese law enforcement agencies are not only valued but they are crucial in creating a safer and more secure region,” he said.

“The global criminal environment today is complex, borderless and fluid. The AFP’s relationship with Chinese law enforcement agencies reflects this. While narcotics trafficking and economic crimes remain important priorities, we also work together on a variety of crimes, including cybercrime, money laundering and child sexual exploitation.”

The AFP says a potential 592 Australian lives were saved under Taskforce Blaze by preventing more than 12.7 tonnes of drugs, as well as precursors used to manufacture methamphetamines, from reaching local communities.

ACIC national wastewater drug monitoring and national drug and alcohol centre drug trends data shows, on average, “one person in Australia dies for every 2.5kg of heroin, every 21kg of amphetamine-type stimulants or every 57kg of cocaine consumed”.

Mr Kershaw said Taskforce Blaze underscored that “international relationships and partnerships are essential to keeping everyday Australians safe”.

“To protect Australians and our way of life, the AFP has made it a priority to work with international and domestic agencies to help stop illicit drugs at source countries.

“This is particularly important in how we focus on expanding investigations into multinational drug-smuggling organisations affecting our region using established forums such as the Pacific Islands chiefs of police and the Pacific transnational crime network.”

The Australian understands while the reaffirmation of policing ties with Beijing will help bust drug cartels and transnational crime, the AFP remains fully committed to foreign interference investigations.

Many high-profile foreign interference investigations have focused on Chinese-linked operations, where Chinese Communist Party affiliates have sought to recruit high-level assets, including Australian politicians. The AFP secured its first foreign interference conviction in December.

Former Liberal candidate and prominent Australian-Chinese community leader Di Sanh Duong was jailed for two years and nine months over attempts to influence former federal Liberal minister Alan Tudge. It was alleged that Duong was co-opted by the CCP’s United Front Work Department.

Alexander Csergo, a marketing executive charged with a foreign interference offence last year after arriving from Shanghai, is scheduled to appear at the Sydney Downing Centre on Wednesday.