AFP investigators in Western Australia have travelled around the state and overseas this year to protect the community from threats including cybercrime, child exploitation and drug trafficking.
Investigations in 2024 by the AFP's Western Command, which operates across WA, have led to 162 people being charged with more than 440 offences between January and early December.
A key AFP strategy is to remove the benefits of illegal activity and AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) members in Western Command have stripped more than $5.3 million of cash and assets this year from WA residents who were unable to legally justify those assets. Those confiscated assets will now be allocated by the Attorney General to community safety initiatives.
An additional $12.3 million worth of assets have been restrained in WA in 2024 under the powerful proceeds of crime laws, with legal proceedings continuing to determine if they should also be forfeited to the Commonwealth.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Pryce Scanlan said AFP members in WA had again shown tenacity and dedication in their work to protect the community in 2024.
"The AFP is committed to keeping the local community safe and we work with partners across Australia and overseas to disrupt criminal activity to protect Australians at home and law-abiding citizens in any countries where these crimes impact," Assistant Commissioner Scanlan said.
"Many of the criminals we target are not confined by borders and they have a negative financial and social impact on every community in which they operate.
"The AFP works with partners to make it as difficult as possible for criminals to exploit or harm our communities."
A Western Command member spent several months in Europe in 2024 as part of the AFP's offshore investigation team for Operation Kraken. The AFP was a member of the global taskforce established by Europol to infiltrate the Ghost dedicated encrypted communications platform and disrupt the alleged criminals using it, including in WA.
Protecting children from exploitation and abuse, and educating families to help keep children safe, remains a key priority for the AFP.
A three-year investigation spanning 20 countries was finalised in August when a Perth man who sextorted 286 victims - including 180 children - was sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment.
The AFP identified the man after receiving reports from Interpol and United States' Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in 2021.
AFP officers liaised with police in multiple countries throughout the investigation and court process to help identify victims and check on their welfare, and passed on intelligence about other offenders who had been in contact with the man.
International collaboration was highlighted during a separate child protection investigation in May, 2024.
The AFP charged a West Australian man, 22, on 31 May, 2024, after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers at Perth International Airport examined his belongings and allegedly found child abuse material stored inside a hidden folder on his mobile phone.
AFP officers reviewed electronic devices seized from the man and allegedly found a video showing an alleged sexual assault suspected to have happened in the United States.
The AFP passed intelligence to the FBI, which led to an American man being charged.
The AFP also travelled to regional WA, working with the Western Australia Police Force to investigate alleged online child abuse offending. These included separate matters in WA's South West that resulted in charges against a 22-year-old man and a 42-year-old man.
In May, AFP cybercrime investigators charged a West Australian man who allegedly established fake free WiFi access points, to capture personal data from people who mistakenly connected to them.
The man allegedly created 'evil twin' networks at airports and other locations and it is believed to be the first time the AFP has charged someone for allegedly using a portable wireless access device to mimic legitimate networks.
CACT forfeitures during 2024 included cash and a luxury car confiscated from a convicted drug trafficker in February; more than $3.6 million cash suspected to be the proceeds of crime forfeited to the Commonwealth in July; and almost $680,000 forfeited by a WA vegetable grower in November.
At Perth Airport, the AFP has been working closely with Australian Border Force (ABF), the airline industry and Perth Airport security to keep travellers and workers safe, and prevent air travel being used to facilitate criminal activity.
This included charging people who allegedly attempted to import illicit drugs concealed internally in February and March, charging a man who allegedly tried to fly interstate in October under a false name with suspected illicit cash and removing an allegedly intoxicated man from a flight in December before charging him with disorderly behaviour. Just days before Christmas, a man was charged after he was allegedly caught trying to import 9kg of methamphetamine concealed in packages of powdered food products in his suitcase.
While many were put before the courts, other people were issued infringement notices or cautioned for their poor behaviour at the airport or on flights.
The AFP also took part in a mass-casualty training exercise at Perth Airport to enhance emergency preparedness and inter-agency cooperation.
The AFP's work also includes counter-terrorism and protection of critical infrastructure at metropolitan and regional sites, including Exmouth and Geraldton.
Assistant Commissioner Scanlan said the entire AFP team in WA contributed to the work to keep the community safe - including investigators, intelligence members, forensic and technical experts and support capabilities.
"Western Command, like the rest of the AFP, is focusing on 2025 and how we can continue to protect the community from evolving crime threats," he said.
