Two men have been charged after a two-year counter-terrorism investigation allegedly linked them to the trafficking of firearms and military-grade equipment from Australia to a violent paramilitary group in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
It is alleged the men \u00a0\u2014 one from Queensland and one from New South Wales \u2014 conspired to supply weapons and ammunition to the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the group behind the kidnapping of New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens.<\/p>\n
Mr Mehrtens, who was captured in February 2023 after landing a small aircraft at West Papua’s Paro Airport, was held hostage for 592 days before being released in September last year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The West Papua National Liberation Army have released several videos and photos of Phillip Mehrtens. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
As part of the joint investigation into his kidnapping, Australian and New Zealand authorities uncovered evidence allegedly linking a 44-year-old man from Logan, south of Brisbane, and a 64-year-old man from Urunga on the NSW mid north coast, to arms trafficking activities.<\/p>\n
The men face multiple charges, including conspiracy to export weapons and firearm parts, unlawful supply of weapons, and conspiracy to export Tier 2 goods, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Queensland man was arrested by authorities after they searched his Eaglby home in November 2024. (Supplied: AFP\/QPS)<\/p>\n
Men to appear in court in Brisbane<\/p>\n
The international investigation was led by the Queensland Joint Counter Terrorism Team, which included the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Queensland Police Service (QPS), and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, in partnership with New Zealand Police.<\/p>\n
The men were arrested following search warrants at their homes in November 2024, where authorities seized several items, including 13.6 kilograms of mercury metal, a controlled substance, from the Urunga property.<\/p>\n
The Queensland man is also charged with possessing explosives without authority.<\/p>\n
The NSW man is also facing charges of conspiracy to export weapons and firearm parts, unlawful supply of weapons, and possessing a controlled substance.<\/p>\n
Both men have been granted bail and are due to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on October 17.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The two-year investigation has seen two Australian men charged. (Supplied: AFP\/QPS)<\/p>\n
Police warn against weapons trafficking<\/p>\n
AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Nutt said the agency and its partners had “zero tolerance for any form of violence or gun crime”.<\/p>\n
“Anyone involved in the trafficking of illegal weapons from Australia with the intention of providing them into the hands of international groups should be warned \u2014 the AFP and our partners are dedicated to preventing the trafficking of illegal weapons,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The use of these deadly and illegal weapons can have far-reaching consequences if they reach the wrong hands.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
QPS Acting Assistant Commissioner Heath Hutchings said the investigation highlighted the strength of local, national and international partnerships.<\/p>\n
“This operation sends a clear message: those who seek to profit from the illegal trafficking of firearms will be identified and prosecuted,” he said.<\/p>\n
New Zealand Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Mike Pannett acknowledged the complexity of the cross-border investigation and the importance of cooperation.<\/p>\n
“While we are pleased Mr Mehrtens was released and able to return to his family, working closely with the Australian police agencies is an important part of protecting our community here in New Zealand,” he said.<\/p>\n
Authorities have encouraged anyone with information about extremist activity or potential threats to contact the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two men have been charged after a two-year counter-terrorism investigation allegedly linked them to the trafficking of firearms…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":222383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[30310,4740,112683,120770,281,4219,50,120769,5236,120768],"class_list":{"0":"post-222382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-afp","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-australian-federal-police","11":"tag-counter-terrorism-team","12":"tag-court","13":"tag-crime","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-phillip-mehrtens","16":"tag-queensland-police","17":"tag-weapons-trafficking"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115194534868396463","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}