Federal police said the caravan with explosives found in Sydney earlier this year “never cause massive casualties” and was a “fake terrorist plot.”
Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett said on Monday that investigators now believe the incident was fabricated by criminals who wanted to cause fear of personal interests.
“We are now confident that these tips are fabricated, and the caravan strategy is an elaborate program produced by organized criminals at home and at sea,” Barrett said.
“This distorted self-service crime has intimidated Jewish Australians. What is organized crime? [allegedly] The practices against the Jewish community are reprehensible and will not be without consequences. ”
NSW Police Deputy Chief David Hudson said strike force Pearl Police conducted 11 search warrants on Monday and arrested 14 more people as part of their investigation into anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney. He said none of the arrested people were directly related to the “caravan work.”
The Deputy Commissioner said that the “organized elements of crime” were “more causes” of the attack. Hudson said none of those arrested showed any anti-Semitic ideology.
Guardian Australia understands that authorities believe there was a man pulling the strings to the top of a chain of command, with the second floor below others who were involved in organized crime and they were inviting locals to conduct the act.
This motivation is alleged to be both distracting police officers and diverting their resources from organized crime and to create plots of land that incarcerated offenders can be used to reduce law enforcement to reduce penalties.
Police advised that a plan that could have reduced sentences by providing information about potential threats to make “caravan work” a plan.
Of the 14 people arrested in the raid Monday morning, a 33-year-old man was arrested at the Wentworthville unit and later charged with two counts of intentional damage to the company’s property, theft and driving, but was disqualified. Police will claim he sprayed paint on motor vehicles and properties in suburban Sydney in Randwick and Kingsford on February 2.
A 40-year-old man in southern Sydney was also arrested in Monday’s attack and charged with driving a car while disqualifying, without the owner’s consent and participating in a criminal group. Police will claim that he spray painted his home in a Maroubra home and school, shopping mall in Eastgardens and homes in Eastlakes.
Both were denied bail.
Others arrested on Monday include those who will be charged with arson attacks at Bondi Beach in October 2024.
A 27-year-old woman was also arrested in Eastlakes on Monday morning, with charges including banned drugs, possession or use of banned weapons. She was released on bail.
A pair of police arrest warrants were allegedly named as part of an investigation into the caravan after being charged with another alleged arson and graffiti attack in eastern Sydney.
In mid-February, New South Wales Police accused Scott Marshall, 36, of an incident in a Sydney suburb of Woollahra on December 11 last year, with alleged stolen cars being undulating and anti-Israeli graffiti smeared on cars, buildings and sidewalks.
Marshall’s partner, Tammie Farrugia, 34, was charged in mid-January with Woollahra incident. She was accused of participating in a criminal group and destroying property.
Marshall was arrested last month at Parklia Prison – he was seized on irrelevant charges – and was charged with alleged participation in a criminal group to promote criminal activities; destroy or destroy property before the facts; ride and drive a vehicle without the consent of the owner.
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NSW police said Marshall and Farugia were “involved” in the car and Jerry can before the Wollala attack.
The head of Strick Force Pearl told reporters in mid-February that the “main criminal” behind the incident on December 11 has not been arrested.
Neither Faruggia nor Marshall have been accused of being associated with the Australian caravan and the Guardian and did not recommend any misconduct.
David Ossip, chairman of the Jewish Representative Committee of NSW, said the incident in recent months had “had a chilling impact” on the Jewish community, although police accusations of anti-Semitism were not the motive for those arrested so far.
“The results of this investigation should not reduce the summer of fear and anxiety experienced by the Jewish community in any way, or the vicious nature of the attack, including attempted arson at the Judas convention and bomb attacks at the parenting center,” Ossip said. “It should also not disappear from the record-breaking levels of anti-Semitism experienced in Australia in the past 18 months.”
NSW Prime Minister Chris Minns and his police minister Yasmin Catley issued a joint statement on Monday afternoon saying that despite the revelation, the caravan plot was concocted, fearing the fear of the Jewish community.
They said: “There is no doubt that these behaviors create fear and anxiety in our Jewish community, and we will not tolerate this and will never be.”
They said the investigation has invested “a lot of resources”.
“These arrests are the culmination of the tough, 24/7 work of the police, and we congratulate the Pearl Detectives of the Strike Force on their relentless efforts to investigate these crimes and identify those suspected of attributing them to court,” the statement said.
“Organized crime in terrorist plots against the Jewish community is a very serious matter,” Shadow Interior and Cybersecurity Secretary James Paterson wrote on X.
“The National Security Minister and Prime Minister should brief immediately like the Prime Minister of New South Wales. The government must now explain whether they are, and if not, why not.”
