Australian Federal Police

The AFP is issuing a public warning over the rising presence of nitazene, a dangerous synthetic opioid, making its way onto Australian streets. The AFP, Australian Border Force and our state and territory law enforcement partners have recorded an increase in nitazene seizures. Since July 2023 there have been 47 border detections, as well as eight seizures in Queensland across the past 12 months. Globally, nitazenes are being used as a cheap cutting alternative and then sold as ketamine, heroin, MDMA, cocaine and counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Nitazenes have been associated with an increasing number of recent fatal and non-fatal overdoses both domestically and internationally. Nitazene compounds can be extremely potent, in some cases up to 10 times more potent than fentanyl and 500 times more potent than heroin. There is no such thing as a safe dosage when it comes to nitazenes – just two milligrams can kill. If a person is taken to hospital for an overdose on nitazenes, it can be extremely challenging for medical professionals to determine what illicit drug has been ingested and provide the treatment required. The AFP is working closely with our international and domestic law enforcement partners to combat the emerging threat of nitazenes and target criminal groups involved in nitazene importation, trafficking and supply. We are committed to using every means at our disposal to disrupt syndicates which try to profit at the expense of our communities.

The AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) has successfully restrained $9.3 million in cryptocurrency as part of an investigation into the alleged mastermind behind Ghost, the dedicated encrypted communication platform. The NSW man, 32, was arrested on 17 September as part of AFP Operation Kraken and charged with five offences, including supporting a criminal organisation. The assets were restrained after an analytics specialist within the CACT deciphered the account’s “seed phrase” following analysis of digital devices recovered from the man’s Narwee home. This allowed the AFP to transfer the cryptocurrency into a secure AFP cryptocurrency storage. Investigations are ongoing. The CACT will seek to have the restrained assets forfeited to the Commonwealth in due course.

60 seconds with… Senior Constable, Darwin Aviation.

Onions have layers. Ogres have layers! And so should your online accounts! Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) adds extra layers of security to your accounts and protects your valuable information against criminals. MFA is when you use two or more different types of actions to verify your identity. 1.    What you know: PIN or passphrase. 2.    What you receive: Code sent to you via an authenticator app, SMS or email. 3.    Who you are: Biometrics like a face scan or fingerprint. It takes less than 5min to add those security layers. Click on the guide in the comments and set up MFA on your banking, social media and other online accounts today. 

The AFP recently hosted the inaugural Pacific Police Support Group in Brisbane for a six-week program which included training more than 30 Pacific police officers in close personal protection, group dynamics, planning and public order management. When fully operational the Pacific Police Support Group will comprise a pool of trained Pacific police who, together with the AFP, will be ready to rapidly deploy to Pacific nations in support of major event management or additional capacity in times of crisis. Improving capability and cooperation among Pacific police forces benefits all Pacific countries and the security of our communities. 📷 Among the 33 attendees from 11 counties at the training program were seven highly skilled sisters who represented the Pacific Island nations of Fiji, Northern Mariana Islands, Kiribati and Nauru.

⚠️ Content warning. A NSW Mid North Coast man has been sentenced to nine years' imprisonment for online child abuse-related offences. Investigations by the AFP and United States Homeland Security Investigations identified the man engaging with 14 child victims to procure child abuse material, of which he obtained and stored a significant amount. AFP officers executed a search warrant at the man’s home in 2023, during which they located child abuse material on online cloud storage accounts and logs of chats with child victims saved on his phone. The man was subsequently arrested and charged. The AFP, together with our international law enforcement partners, are dedicated to fighting child sexual abuse and bringing those who commit these abhorrent offences before the court.

The AFP supports the decision by Australian, US and UK governments to impose targeted financial sanctions and travels bans on Russian citizens Maksim Yakubets, Igor Turashev and Aleksandr Ryzhenkov for their roles in serious cyber attacks. These individuals have been publicly named as being part of criminal ransomware group known as ‘Evil Corp’. The AFP continues to support the global investigative efforts into Evil Corp. These sanctions ban the individuals from entering Australia and prohibits Australians from providing assets to these individuals or use or deal with their assets. These sanctions highlight the collaborative and cross-border approach adopted by law enforcement to tackle the growing threat of cybercrime.  The AFP remains committed to investigating, disrupting and deterring cybercrime before it reaches Australia’s shores, protecting Australians and Australia’s interests. The AFP has joined with NCA and FBI to publish a paper mapping out the history of Evil Corp’s offending, key members and Russian state links. You can find more information on the Evil Corp ransomware group here: https://lnkd.in/gxvEHAYF           The AFP encourages you to be vigilant online and protect yourself against ransomware attacks. To learn more about how to protect yourself online, visit the Australian Cyber Security Centre website at https://lnkd.in/gEGmFQ_a. If you think you are a victim of ransomware, contact Report Cyber at https://lnkd.in/g4pUhKf5.

Talk about a brief encounter with the law 🩲 Two foreign nationals have been charged over two unrelated drug importations, with 27kg of cocaine and 21kg of methamphetamine seized at Sydney Airport in the space of 48 hours. A Canadian-Ecuadorian dual national has been charged with allegedly importing six kilograms of cocaine concealed in his underpants. Australian Border Force (ABF) officers identified abnormalities in the man’s visa application and conducted a search of the man. Officers located a package around his groin area, positioned between two pairs of underpants and secured with tape. The plan came apart at the seams when the package returned a positive result for cocaine and the matter was referred to the AFP. Two days later, AFP officers charged a US national with allegedly importing 21kg of cocaine and 21kg of methamphetamine concealed in suitcases. ABF officers located 28 suspicious packages in the man’s two suitcases during a routine inspection which returned positive results for both cocaine and methamphetamine. If you travel to Australia with drugs hidden in your possession, you won’t slip through the cracks. You will be detected and face the full consequences of the law. The AFP and our partners work tirelessly to prevent airports being used as part of the criminal supply chain.

The AFP will coordinate a multi-national effort to disrupt the trafficking of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals on behalf of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats. The Coalition of 156 countries, including Australia, are working together to make their communities safer by combating the threat of synthetic drugs through policing, public health and policy initiatives. Existing partnerships the AFP has in the Asia Pacific region will help drive intelligence gathering and analysis to assist the Coalition’s efforts, with the Asia Pacific region being a crucial hub for criminal groups to source precursors and finished synthetic drugs, before exporting them globally. More than 100 AFP officers are working in the Pacific to build the capability of local police and share operational and tactical intelligence with the vision to make the Pacific the hardest region in the world for organised criminal groups and networks to operate in.

Today marks the start of Cyber Security Awareness Month! The AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3) is highlighting Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams and how you can protect yourself with multi-factor authentication (MFA) and checking email addresses. In a recent BEC scam, cybercriminals created a fake email address with one letter different to the legitimate business email to deceive a South Australian woman into unknowingly sending $813,000 to criminals. After two days, the woman notified her bank and police that she feared she had transferred the funds to a fraudulent bank account, rather than to the intended recipient. Police were able to recover $777,000 after an investigation by JPC3, international law enforcement partners and multiple financial institutions. This case shows the importance of reporting cybercrimes to police as soon as possible. It is also a reminder that the recovery of funds is complex and, in some situations, not possible, which is why all Australians need to take preventative measures to protect themselves from these manipulative cybercriminals. 🎥 Listen to some simple tips for staying safe from AFP Senior Cybercrime Analyst Carolyn.