Thread: Five Men Held in Australia Suspected of Planning Trip to Syria

Australia says it has detained five men who they believe were planning to sail by boat to Indonesia and the Philippines en route to join radical Islamist groups fighting in Syria.

Authorities say the quintet was arrested in northern Queensland state, after towing a seven-meter boat almost 3,000 kilometers from Melbourne to Cairns, where they planned to set sail.

"They were committed, obviously very committed. The fact that they'd gone all the way from Melbourne, all the way to far North Queensland (state), indicates that these people were extremely committed in their adventure and their attempt to leave the country," said Neil Gaughan, Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner.

Attorney General George Brandis said the men, ranging in age between 21 and 33, were going to travel by boat because their passports had been revoked, ruling out air travel. One of the men is believed to be Musa Cerantoni, a radical Islamic preacher and vocal supporter of the Islamic State. He was arrested in the Philippines in 2014 and deported back to Australia due to his support for the extremist group.

Canberra has launched a wide-ranging anti-terrorism campaign since late 2014. Authorities have conducted a series of counter-terrorism raids across the country, arresting at least several people on suspicion of planning domestic terrorist attacks and involvement with Islamic militants fighting in Iraq and Syria.

Five Men Held in Australia Suspected of Planning Trip to Syria

Dumb jihadists.

Dragging that boat all along the coast highway up to Cairns is like carting coals to Newcastle

The cops would have monitored them all the way, dodging through Sydney, then Newcastle, Brizzy, McKay, not stopping once to wet the hull, on to Cairns where boats abound,...it would have been cheaper to hire one there, that's around 30k /gal/3,000k @ $4/gal = $4,000 in fuel, (just a rough guess).

Wouldn't it have been more fun to track them in one of those new French subs then periscope up and sink them in the unlikely event that they made it to the coast of somewhere close to Syria?

I reckon.

If they ever got that far without getting whacked out by either storms or pirates.

They were as dumb as a box of rocks,but it would of been nice to let them sail away
with a timed bomb on board so the crocs had a feed.
just before the cops nabbed them,they refueled at a roadhouse on the track to the cape
and the people there said they stood out like sore thumbs,most likely still wearing
mussie dresses and beards,bet the cops had a laugh at the scumbags.
hope they go to the big house for a long time.

You can't hide up north.
If it weren't the abos spotting them the hippies would.

Funny if the crocs did have a go at them, I hear the salties are breeding like crazy and getting bigger further inland too, as well as ranging a fair distance out to sea.

You were bloody right there reddog, the hoons stuck out like balls on a virgin,..


Five men in a tinnie: ’They’d be raising a lot of eyebrows’

The notion of five men from Melbourne travelling incognito from the tip of Cape York to Indonesia on a small boat has been described as nearly impossible.




Radical Islamic preacher Robert ‘Musa’ Cerantonio arrives at Melbourne Airport after being deported from The Philippines in 2014.

Dale Mears, who owns the Croc Tent souvenir shop in New Mapoon and is familiar with the complexities of crossing the Torres Strait, said completing the journey without attracting attention would be extremely difficult for anyone not from the region.

“All those islands with the amount of quarantine and customs operations going on between them ... ultimately they’re going to have to visit for shelter, food or water ... I think they wouldn’t be able to do it,” he said.



Perth-born terror suspect Shayden Thorne.
“In reality very few tourists ever visit those central island groups – it would be a real novelty for someone there not on official government business to rock up in a tinnie.

“They’d be raising a lot of eyebrows.”

Mr Mears said even if the men arrested on Tuesday night had been able to make it past vigilant Torres Strait locals and Border Force, they would have been up against difficult water conditions.

“I would say in a small boat it’d be a hell of an adventure at this time of year with the south-easterlies whipping up a mean swell,” he said.

http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/ca...92982e1b7e1b3d

Originally Posted by misskit

who they believe

So not "they have proof" or "they have evidence that indicates" but "they believe".

Well, bang to rights then. Lock them up and throw away the key. Some blokes take a boat to the other side of Australia. Clearly they are terrorists.

We'll all be murdered in our beds.

NSW terror laws to allow police to question, detain suspects for 14 days without charge - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Wonder if this BS story has anything to do with this? Vote to come soon.

Under the legislation, NSW Police will be able to detain and question terrorism suspects as young as 14 without charge for up to two weeks.

14.

What the fuck has Australia become?

Originally Posted by pseudolus

Originally Posted by misskit

who they believe

So not "they have proof" or "they have evidence that indicates" but "they believe".

Just typical legal jargon till after the court case ruling. Like when a POI is arrested near a shooting scene while trying to run off with a smoking .45 in his/her hand, they'll say something like "it is believed person xxxxx was involved in the shooting of his estranged spouse, police will allege that blah blah blah" sort of thing.

But it's safe to say these bozos weren't on a fishing trip.

Anyway what were they thinking?. From Cairns to Irian Jaya would be at least 1000 NM, a boat like that would have a 200-250 HP motor that with a normal load would burn 20+ GPH @ around 25 Kts (or more in the rough weather they would have probably come up against) so they'd need minimum 400-500 Gallons of fuel to make the journey. Add perhaps 400kg of weight for the 5 peace-loving anglers on board and the fucking boat would have sunk at the jetty. They should have let them launch, the GIF would be an instant hit in the Funny Pics thread.

Originally Posted by pseudolus

What the fuck has Australia become?

Mind telling us again

VOA News
May 11, 2016 3:09 AM

Australia says it has detained five men who they believe were planning to sail by boat to Indonesia and the Philippines en route to join radical Islamist groups fighting in Syria.

VOA News
Last updated on: May 15, 2016 3:01 AM

Australian authorities charged five men with terrorism-related charges Saturday after they were arrested earlier this week for attempting to sail to Indonesia and then travel on to join Islamist groups in Syria.

15 May must have been a sad day for you Pseudo ? I have to admit, for me too. Would have hoped that they get charged with a sharia court.
Or the Israeli way: "Shot on the Spot" therfore "Charges dropped"

To right to, there just like the Poms Eh, bloody arresting them, instead of leaving them alone to go hopefully drown on the way.

5 Face Terror Charges Over Australia-Syria Boat Plan

Australian authorities charged five men with terrorism-related charges Saturday after they were arrested earlier this week for attempting to sail to Indonesia and then travel on to join Islamist groups in Syria.

The men, including radical jihadist preacher Musa Cerantonio, could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty.

They are scheduled to appear in a Queensland state court Monday.

"The men ... were each charged with one count of making preparations for incursions into foreign countries for the purpose of engaging in hostile activities," the Australian Federal Police said in a statement.

All five men were arrested Tuesday after towing a seven-meter boat almost 3,000 kilometers from Melbourne to Cairns, where they planned to set sail to Indonesia.

The men’s passports had been suspended several months ago, “because the relevant level of concern about their intentions were known to us," Australia’s Attorney General George Brandeis said.

Under surveillance

"There is a number of people in Australia under surveillance, and in the event that they were to attempt a terrorist crime, or to attempt to leave Australia in order to perpetrate terrorist war fighting overseas, then they would be taken into custody," Brandeis said.

Australia has been on a heightened alert for homegrown terrorism since September 2014, when it raised its terror threat level to high.

Since then, it has passed several laws aimed at curtailing terrorism, including the law that allowed it to cancel the passports of suspected extremists.

During that time, authorities have also conducted a series of counterterrorism raids across the country, arresting at least several people on suspicion of planning domestic terrorist attacks and involvement with Islamic militants fighting in Iraq and Syria.

Cerantonio, the radical Islamic preacher and vocal supporter of the Islamic State group, was previously arrested in the Philippines in 2014 and deported to Australia due to his support for the extremist group.

5 Face Terror Charges Over Australia-Syria Boat Plan

Originally Posted by pseudolus

What the fuck has Australia become?

The cops are like the Gestapo.
At the airport last saturday putting the girl on a plane,left her bag at our table to go to the bar,turned around 4 count them 4 Federal cops checking the bag.
WTF gave us a lecture about this is the world we live in blah blah blah.
F--K OF AND GET A REAL JOB.

A bit naive of you.

I left a briefcase on a London tube from Earls Court to Angel-Islington back in the late 1980's.
It contained some trade samples and a bunch of keys.

I got home and discovered my loss, unable to get into my flat, so I contacted Brit Rail lost property who'd had the missing briefcase handed in by ..the police,.... after that particular train had been suspended and the bomb-squad had been called.

Par for the course with raging Islamic nutters running around, mate.

^ We were standing 10ft away.
If ISIS bomb brisbane you can f--k me,it will never happen.

Fair enough comment.

Terrorist threat levels have dropped lately in Oz, but there are still d8ck head wannabees hoaxing the cops, and the Lebo biker gangs have a weird mix of jihadist connections/leanings and swap-over Bandidos, Rebels and Outlaws MC riders, mainly Harley freaks

IMO the lone wolf Muslim crusader's the likely bomber in Oz, though, thinking big, acting small, a lunch box bomb can do a hell of a lot of damage over 50 yards in a crowd.

Unless you get a nutter on a mission holding a cafe full of innocents hostage as happened in Sydney a couple of years ago.

Whatever, they're all likely to be followers of the prophet of peace.

^ Agree 100% it will be some wide eyed convert who will do the damage.