The AFP is shining a spotlight on its International Posts, with officers based offshore collaborating and sharing intelligence with foreign law enforcement partners to tackle global threats and safeguard the Australian community from afar.
More than 200 members are deployed across the world, at Posts in every continent except Antarctica, to combat crimes such as drug trafficking, human exploitation, people smuggling, money laundering and terrorism.
In total, the AFP has a presence in 35 countries, through 36 separate bases from Bogota to Beijing, as well as eight police development partnerships in the Pacific region.
AFP Assistant Commissioner David McLean said criminals were not constrained by international borders and a global police network was required to deter and disrupt their activity.
"To target borderless crimes such as child exploitation, drug trafficking and people smuggling, we need to work together - no one agency can do it alone," he said.
"Criminals cause harm to our national security, financial systems, our busy hospitals in our suburbs. They have a negative impact in every community in which they operate, which is why it is so important for law enforcement agencies to work together to combat them.
"The AFP's first international post was Kuala Lumpur, opened in 1973 by the then-Federal Bureau of Narcotics, and since then we have built strong relationships with foreign partners across the world.
"Criminals who prey on Australians from overseas should know they are not out of arm's length from the AFP."
Assistant Commissioner McLean praised the efforts of investigators who worked offshore to protect the Australian community.
"We send some of our best investigators overseas to work alongside and assist law enforcement partners," he said.
"Many of these AFP members are deployed without their families and spend long periods away from loved ones to undertake this vital work."
Transnational Serious Organised Crime (TSOC)
Australia continues to be an attractive and lucrative market for transnational serious organised crime (TSOC) groups, with about 70 per cent of the most serious offenders targeting Australia based offshore.
In 2020, the AFP established Operation Gain to target the upper echelon of a TSOC syndicate, which had allegedly been sending large volumes of illicit drugs to Australia for more than 30 years.
It was an Asia-Pacific based group with links to countries around the world and a global response was required to arrest the key players.
AFP Posts in countries, including China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Turkiye, played a significant role in tracking down the Operation Gain targets, with AFP officers working closely with local law enforcement to locate and arrest the alleged criminals, some of whom were deported to Australia.
In 2023, four men were arrested by either the AFP or Turkish authorities for their alleged roles in the syndicate, the most recent occurring in December 2023.
Case studies - Hong Kong
In the past year, the AFP has worked closely with Chinese authorities to combat transnational crime, which continues to bring mutual benefit to Australia and China.
AFP Hong Kong Post responded to 41 requests for assistance from local law enforcement agencies in the past financial year (2022-23), mainly for drug importation matters. During this period, more than 1.9 tonnes of methamphetamine destined for Australia was seized by the AFP and Hong Kong authorities.
The cases included Operation Corowa and Operation Notori in July 2023, which resulted in the arrest of six people in Australia for their alleged roles in two separate methamphetamine importations.
In both matters, methamphetamine was allegedly concealed inside commercial equipment from China. The combined total of the seized drugs could have been sold as more than four million individual street deals, with an estimated street value of $377 million.
Additionally, intelligence shared by the Hong Kong Police Force Narcotics Bureau in November 2023 sparked a separate investigation, codenamed Operation Quilt. It resulted in 240kg of methamphetamine being seized before it reached Australian borders, another 146kg of methamphetamine manufactured at a clandestine lab in western Sydney being seized and the lab dismantled, and two arrests in Australia. Further arrests were made in Hong Kong.
Child exploitation
AFP Manila has been working closely with Philippines authorities to protect children and stop those involved in exploiting and abusing minors. Child sexual exploitation continues to be anissue in the Philippines, with a notable shift to live distance sexual exploitation.
Australians are reported to be among the top three nationalities accessing live online child sexual abuse produced in the Philippines.*
The AFP was one of the founding members of the Philippine International Crimes Against Child Centre (PICACC) established in 2019. It includes the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine National Bureau of Investigation, AFP, Netherlands Police, UK National Crime Agency and the International Justice Mission.
In the past five years, 262 PICACC operations in the Philippines have resulted in 733 victims being removed from harm, and 158 alleged offenders or facilitators charged.*
The AFP's efforts in the Philippines to facilitate and provide intelligence led to 58 alleged offenders arrested, and 244 international victims removed from harm..
In April 2024, as a result of an investigation involving the AFP and PNP, two girls were removed from harm in the Philippines. The AFP had referred intelligence to the PICACC which was uncovered during a search warrant at a NSW man's home.
In June 2023, a girl, 6, was rescued and a woman arrested in Manila for allegedly sexually abusing her and selling videos of the crimes on the dark web. These actions were the result of joint investigation between the AFP, PNP and Victoria Police.
People smuggling
The AFP's Jakarta and Colombo Posts continue to work closely with local authorities to tackle people smuggling, following the establishment of Operation Sovereign Borders in 2013.
Due to significant economic and humanitarian hardship in the region, particularly in Sri Lanka, people smugglers are increasingly encouraging illegal maritime ventures to Australia.
Since 2013, the AFP has supported regional partners to disrupt 113 maritime people smuggling ventures targeting Australia, affecting 3667 potential illegal irregular migrants.**
AFP members also delivered a training program to 30 Sri Lanka Police officers that included theory and practical lessons in searching, seizing and exhibiting evidence, which they could apply to people smuggling investigations.
*As at 3 June 2024, Philippine International Crimes Against Child Centre (PICACC).
**As at 31 March 2024.
