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UPDATE: A Kealba property was raided on Tuesday morning, with computers and USB drives seized in an operation by Victoria Police and the Australian Federal Police counter-terrorism team.
Following a tip-off from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), more than 100 officers executed search warrants in five Melbourne suburbs, leading to the arrest of a 23-year-old Seabrook man.
“It was the culmination of an eight-month investigation called Operation Hohensalzburg,” AFP Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan said of the simultaneous raids.
“We’ll be alleging he was intentionally making funds available to a prescribed terrorist group … supporting a US citizen who is fighting in Syria.”
The man will appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday afternoon, accused of allegedly providing $12,000 to a person who has been in Syria “for months”.
The accused and the US citizen he was allegedly funding are not related, and are believed to know each other through social media.
“This is the first time we’re aware of an Australian citizen paying for a citizen of another country to go to war,” Commissioner Gaughan said.
“There is no evidence he was planning any attacks … and there’s evidence to suggest any firearms, explosives or weapons were seized in the raids.
“At this stage, we believe he’s operating alone.”
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton reinforced the searches were not a response to any direct threat to public safety.
The man’s background was not revealed.
“This is not about any religion … it’s about criminals undertaking criminal acts,” said Commissioner Ashton.
More to come
