‘Looking for a caravan’: Facebook post from couple arrested on ‘periphery’ on anti-Semitic terror investigation

A couple arrested on the “periphery” of the anti-Semitic terror investigation had posted on Facebook just last month asking to buy a caravan.

A couple arrested on the “periphery” of the anti-Semitic terror investigation had posted on Facebook just last month asking to buy a caravan.

Tammie Farrugia tagged her boyfriend Scott Marshall in a post on December 6 that read: “Looking for a caravan for sale hit me up if U have one cheers”.

NSW Police say a day later, a caravan was parked on the side of Derriwong Rd at Dural which sat for more than a month until a local found it loaded with explosives and notes containing the addresses of Jewish synagogues and buildings.

Neither Farrugia or Marshall have been charged in relation to the Dural incident and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.

The post on Tammie Farrugia’s Facebook account.

Farrugia was however last week charged over a separate alleged anti-Semitic attack at Woollahra in December, while Marshall is currently on remand charged with unrelated weapons and drug offences, to which he has pleaded not guilty,

Police sources confirmed the pair were two of the individuals mentioned by NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson at a press conference on Wednesday when he said that arrests on the “periphery” of the caravan investigation had been made.

The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday afternoon broke the news of the shocking discovery at Dural, in Sydney’s northwest, which has now seen more than 100 police deployed as part of a joint counter terror investigation.

A local alerted police to the contents of the caravan which included mining explosives, a note with the addresses of a Sydney synagogue and other Jewish buildings, as well as a note that read “f**k the Jews” on January 19.

Dep Comm Hudson said the incident was being treated as a credible terror plot which he said was an “escalation” on other anti-Semitic attacks in recent weeks.

“The discovery and the detection of the caravan with an amount of explosives was not going to be used in the normal anti-Semitic attack that we have seen occur in Sydney, such as graffiti and arson attacks,” Dep Comm Hudson said.

Police are investigating the discovery of an explosive-laden caravan, which was bound for a Jewish synagogue. Picture: TNV

“This is certainly an escalation of that with the use of explosives that have the potential to cause a great deal of damage.”

Dep Comm Hudson said detectives working on other anti-Semitic attacks have already made arrests on the “periphery” of the caravan investigation.

It is understood two of the arrests on the ‘periphery’ are that of Tammie Farrugia and her boyfriend Scott Marshall, but neither has been charged with crimes relating to the caravan. Picture: Facebook

“I’ve indicated that we have made arrests on the periphery of this job, but there are still after other offenders who we believe may be involved,” Dep Comm Hudson said.

“We believe there is some connection between some of the targets we charged under Strike Force Pearl and this particular investigation.”

Politicians including Premier Chris Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese voiced their shock at the revelations, but promised the full resources of state and federal law enforcement would be dedicated to the caravan investigation.

A joint counter terrorism investigation involving more than 100 officers from not only NSW Police, but the Australian Federal Police, ASIO, NSW Crime Commission and other state police forces, was this week initiated.

Police sources said locals in Dural had first noticed the caravan sitting parked next to a small cemetery on Derriwong Rd about December 7, before a resident concerned about its location nearing a bend in the road towed it away onto their property.

Premier Chris Minns and Deputy Police Commissioner David Hudson address the media on Wednesday. Picture: Richard Dobson

It was only when they did so that they looked inside and found the explosives and notes, before calling the police.

It is understood the explosives included Powergel, a small stick which can create a blast wave of up to 40 metres, which police believe was stolen from a mining site.

While police are treating the threat at its highest, detectives are also understood to be considering the fact that the caravan was planted to fuel anti-Semitism.

Police were photographed carrying out a search warrant at a home on January 21 on the same road where the caravan was found, but it is understood not to have any links to the caravan.

“Some things just don’t add up,” a source involved in the operation said.

“Leaving notes and addresses are too obvious, likewise leaving it on a public road makes us believe it could well possibly be a set up.”

The caravan discovery comes after a recent spate of attacks on Jewish landmarks and other buildings, where anti-Semitic graffiti was left behind.

The caravan discovery follows a recent spate of attacks on Jewish landmarks and other buildings, including a Maroubra daycare, where anti-Semitic graffiti was left behind.

They have included last Tuesday’s firebombing of a childcare centre at Maroubra, in Sydney’s south-east, which had no specific links to the Jewish community but which saw those responsible paint “f**k the Jews” on a wall inside.

Other incidents have seen the former home of Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin at Dover Heights targeted in a firebombing, anti-Semitic slurs painted throughout Sydney’s eastern suburbs, and Nazi swastikas spray painted on a synagogue in the city’s inner-west.

NSW Police have so far charged 10 people under Strike Force Pearl, which was established last December by officers attached to the Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command – with their focus being to investigate hate crimes with an anti-Semitic focus across Sydney.

The Daily Telegraph knows the list of potential Jewish sites targeted but has chosen not to publish them at the request of NSW Police.

Originally published as ‘Looking for a caravan’: Facebook post from couple arrested on ‘periphery’ on anti-Semitic terror investigation