An organized crime network was behind a fake plot to attack a synagogue in Australia in an attempt to divert law enforcement, police said on Monday.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Kissinger, concluded that the caravan, which was found laden with explosives in January, was part of a “fabricated terrorism plot – essentially a criminal con job,” the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a statement.
The operation began after police discovered explosives capable of creating a 40-meter blast zone in a caravan in January. The discovery followed a tip about a suspicious vehicle at a property in the Sydney suburb of Dural, along with a note referring to the Great Synagogue of Sydney.
Acting on the tip, police headed to the location to find the explosives visibly displayed, but no detonator was present.
“We are now confident that all these tip-offs were fabricated, and the caravan plot was an elaborate scheme contrived by organised criminals, domestically and from offshore,” National Security Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.
“The caravan was never going to cause a mass casualty event but instead was concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit,” Barrett said at a news conference.
Police said that the person who masterminded the plot “wanted changes to their criminal status but maintained a distance from their scheme and hired alleged local criminals to carry out parts of their plan.”
Chris Minns, New South Wales Premier at the time, initially described the incident as “terrorism.”
However, police now believe the plot was not carried out by ideologically motivated individuals, but by organized criminals “domestically and from offshore,” Barrett said.
Authorities on Monday arrested 14 people and filed 65 charges in connection with antisemitic incidents in Sydney between October 2024 and February 2025, but none were linked to the caravan incident.
Also, “none of the individuals [arrested] have displayed any form of antisemitic ideology,” according to New South Wales police deputy commissioner David Hudson.
Authorities have previously said they suspect foreign actors are funding antisemitic crimes across the country, which spiked in the wake of Oct. 7. However, they have not specifically identified or proven foreign involvement in the attacks.
"We believe criminals for hire may be behind some incidents, so part of our inquiries include — who is paying those criminals, where those people are, whether they are in Australia or offshore and what their motivation is,” AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said in January.
