Australian police say a caravan that discovered explosives outside Sydney earlier this year was part of a “fake-in-the-terrorist plot” produced by criminals.
The caravan found in northwest of Sydney on January 19, containing enough explosives to produce a 40m wide explosion, as well as notes showing anti-Semitic information and a list of synagogues.
Its discovery caused widespread panic after a series of anti-Semitism attacks in Australia.
But on Monday, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) revealed that they knew “almost immediately” that the caravan was “in essence a criminal job”.
AFP’s Deputy National Security Commissioner Krissy Barrett said investigators from the NSW Joint Counter-Terrorism Team believed the caravan was “part of a fabricated terrorist plot”.
Authorities achieved this belief based on the information they already have, and they discovered the visibility of caravans and explosives inside, as well as the fact that there were no detonators.
However, police avoid telling the public that they believe the plot was fake “out of caution” as they continue to receive tips on other related terrorist plots. Ms. Barrett said they are now confident that the tips are also fabricated.
According to police, the forged caravan plot involved several people of different levels. Between them, they had planned to buy a caravan, load explosives and anti-Semitic materials, and then leave it in a specific location before law enforcement notifies law enforcement about “an imminent terrorist attack on Jewish Australians.”
Ms Barrett described it as an “organized criminal with well-crafted plans both domestically and offshore”, adding that the conspiracy leader kept his distance and hired some of the actions allegedly local criminals to conduct.
Ms. Barrett confirmed that the person was a known organized crime figure. She also added that although there are no arrests related to the incident, police have many ongoing goals in Australia and at sea.
“Too many criminals are accused of launching anti-Semitism or terrorist incidents on others to get our attention or divert our resources,” Ms Barrett said. She also noted that police believe that “those who play the strings want to change their criminal status”.
Ms Barrett explained that in this case, criminals often exploit some personal interest in exchanging information for law enforcement, primarily around sentence reduction.
BBC News contacted AFP for more details on the alleged agenda behind the caravan scam, but received no further comments.
“Whatever the motives of the person responsible for this fake plot, this has had a chilling impact on the Jewish community,” Ms Barrett said in a statement.
“What organized crime has done to the Jewish community is reprehensible and will not have no consequences. There is no suspicion against other communities – and it is also reprehensible.”
Additionally, NSW police arrested 14 people on Monday morning as part of Strike Force Pearl: a police operation was set up in December 2024 to investigate anti-Semitic hate crimes throughout Sydney.
The strike force was established by a series of anti-Semitic attacks in Australia in late 2024, including the destruction of a Jewish school in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and the arson of a parenting centre that was set up and sprayed with anti-Semitic information.
Speaking to the media on Monday, police said they believe all these incidents have a “common source” with the caravan plot.
“The caravan work is carefully planned by the same person or individual who is planning the Pearl incident,” said David Hudson, deputy chief of police in New South Wales.
Mr Hudson further noted that “none of the people we arrested during our time at Pearl showed no anti-Semitic ideology of any kind.”
“Obviously, the lower nature has had anti-Semitic attacks, and there is a lot of anger and anxiety in the community – we have seen that since October 7, 2023, I think these organized criminal figures have taken this opportunity to play with the vulnerability of the Jewish community.”
