AFP International Posts: More than 200 officers protect Australians from offshore incidents

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The AFP is shining a spotlight on its international posts, where officers working overseas collaborate and share intelligence with foreign law enforcement partners to tackle global threats and protect the Australian community from afar.

More than 200 members operate worldwide, at posts on 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, and through eight police development partnerships in the Pacific region.

According to AFP Assistant Commissioner David McLean, criminals are not limited by international borders and a global police network is needed to deter and disrupt their activities.

“To tackle cross-border crimes such as child exploitation, drug trafficking and human trafficking, we need to work together. No single agency can do this alone,” he said.

“Criminals are damaging our national security, our financial systems, our busy suburban hospitals. They negatively impact every community in which they operate, which is why it is so important that law enforcement agencies 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 around the world.

“Criminals targeting Australians overseas need to know they are within easy reach of the AFP.”

Assistant Commissioner McLean praised the efforts of investigators working at sea to protect the Australian community.

“We send some of our best investigators overseas to work with and support our law enforcement partners,” he said.

“Many of these AFP members are deployed without their families and are separated from their loved ones for extended periods of time in order to do this important work.”

Transnational Serious Organized Crime (TSOC)

Australia remains an attractive and lucrative market for transnational serious organised crime groups (TSOC). Approximately 70 percent of the most serious offenders target people based overseas and targeting Australia.

Between 1 July 2023 and 31 March 2024, foreign law enforcement agencies seized 27 tonnes of illegal drugs or items containing illegal drugs with the help of AFP. Some of the drugs were believed to be destined for Australia.

In 2020, the AFP launched Operation Gain to target the top brass of a TSOC syndicate that had allegedly been shipping large quantities of illicit drugs into Australia for more than 30 years.

It was a group based in the Asia-Pacific region with ties to countries around the world, and a global response was needed to arrest the key players.

AFP posts in countries such as China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Turkey played a key role in tracking down Operation Gain targets. AFP officers worked closely with local police to track down and arrest suspected criminals, some of whom were deported to Australia.

In 2023, four men were arrested by the AFP or Turkish authorities for their alleged role in the syndicate, the last time being in December 2023.

Case Studies – Hong Kong

Over the past year, the AFP has worked closely with Chinese authorities to combat cross-border crime, bringing mutual benefits 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 cases involving drug importation. During this period, more than 1.9 tonnes of methamphetamine destined for Australia was seized by the AFP and Hong Kong authorities.

Cases included Operation Corowa and Operation Notori in July 2023, which saw six individuals arrested in Australia for their alleged roles in two separate methamphetamine importations.

In both cases, methamphetamine is believed to have been concealed in commercial equipment imported from China. The total amount of drugs seized could have been sold as more than four million individual street deals, with an estimated street value of $377 million.

Furthermore, information shared by the Hong Kong Police Force Narcotics Bureau in November 2023 led to a separate investigation, codenamed Operation Quilt. It resulted in the seizure of 240kg of methamphetamine before it reached Australian borders, a further 146kg of methamphetamine produced in a clandestine lab in western Sydney and the dismantling of the lab, and two arrests in Australia. Further arrests were made in Hong Kong.

Child exploitation

AFP Manila has been working closely with Philippine authorities to protect children and stop those involved in the exploitation and abuse of minors. Child sexual exploitation remains a problem in the Philippines, with a noticeable shift towards remote sexual exploitation.

Australians are said to be among the top three nationalities most likely to access live footage of child sexual abuse produced in the Philippines online.*

The AFP was a founding member of the Philippine International Crimes Against Child Centre (PICACC), which was 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.

Over the past five years, 262 PICACC operations in the Philippines have resulted in 733 victims being removed from harm’s way and 158 alleged perpetrators or facilitators being charged.*

Thanks to the intelligence and facilitation efforts of the AFP in the Philippines, 58 alleged perpetrators have been arrested and 244 international victims have been brought to safety.

In April 2024, as a result of an investigation involving the AFP and PNP, two girls were pulled from danger in the Philippines. The AFP had passed on intelligence to PICACC which was discovered during a search warrant at the home of a NSW man.

In June 2023, a 6-year-old girl 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 investigations by the AFP, PNP and Victoria Police.

Human trafficking

The AFP posts in Jakarta and Colombo continue to work closely with local authorities to tackle human trafficking, following the establishment of Operation Sovereign Borders in 2013.

Due to significant economic and humanitarian challenges in the region, particularly Sri Lanka, people smugglers are increasingly encouraging illegal maritime travel to Australia.

Since 2013, the AFP has supported regional partners in dismantling 113 maritime people smuggling operations targeting Australia, involving 3,667 potential illegal irregular migrants.**

In September 2023, the AFP opened a new office in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, to assist local authorities in combating human trafficking.

AFP members also provided a training program for 30 Sri Lankan police officers. This program included theoretical and practical lessons in searching, seizing and exhibiting evidence, which they were able to apply in human trafficking investigations.

*As of June 3, 2024, Philippine International Crimes Against Child Center (PICACC).

**As of March 31, 2024.