illicit tobacco gangs have become so lucrative<\/a>\u00a0and powerful, foreign sponsors of terrorism were likely to target them for recruitment.\u00a0<\/p>\nMichael Shoebridge, Director of Strategic Analysis Australia,\u00a0agreed with suggestions the IRGC was likely to try\u00a0establishing\u00a0connections with Middle East-linked\u00a0crime syndicates\u00a0operating\u00a0within Australia.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat it does is it immediately gives the IRGC, the Iranian state sponsor of terrorist groups like Hamas and\u00a0Hezbollah, a front door network in Australia,\u201d he told Sky News\u00a0this week.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0so disturbing. They\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to go around and recruit their own operatives and agents.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can use this criminal network, and that looks like what happened with that firebombing of the synagogue in Melbourne.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Shoebridge said the risk\u00a0of terror\u00a0organisations\u00a0meddling\u00a0in Australian crime syndicates had been\u00a0somewhat subdued\u00a0in the past.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He labelled\u00a0an\u00a0apparent\u00a0evolution\u00a0in the underworld\u00a0\u201cdisturbing\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNational security analysts for years have been concerned about the potential connection between terrorism and\u00a0organised\u00a0crime,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut most\u00a0organised\u00a0crime groups have\u00a0steered clear of\u00a0terrorism, stuck to good old fashioned violent crime and drugs because terrorism is so radioactive and law enforcement agencies will clamp down high.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat looks like\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0happening here now, but\u00a0it’s\u00a0a very disturbing development.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The now-jailed\u00a0organised\u00a0crime boss Hamad was concluded to have ordered the firebombing of Melbourne\u2019s Adass Israel synagogue in 2024.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cValuing his high wealth and criminal connections, the IRGC protected him and supported his illegal enterprises,\u201d\u00a0Mr\u00a0Burgess said this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat changed dramatically after ASIO\u00a0publicly named\u00a0Iran\u2019s involvement in the antisemitic arsons. This person\u2019s Iranian backers lost their enthusiasm and, after\u00a0further pressure from Australian and local law enforcement, they threw him in prison.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hamad was locked in Iraqi jail late last year accused of drug trafficking.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Australian authorities deported him in 2023 after he did a stint behind bars for his role in a heroin trafficking syndicate.<\/p>\n
Hamad masterminded the\u00a0monopolisation\u00a0of Victoria\u2019s illicit tobacco market by ordering extortion fees and firebombing competitors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Authorities have previously referred to him\u00a0as the orchestrator of the Adass Israel synagogue firebombing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Burgess delivered broader warnings for Australia during his terror evaluation on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGrievance\u00a0continues,\u00a0social cohesion is strained and the likelihood of violence has increased,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cConflict in the Middle East contributes to these dynamics,\u00a0fuelling\u00a0frustrations and anger. The impacts could become even more profound if there are further economic shocks or shortages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSocial media is amplifying and accelerating grievance narratives, eroding trust in institutions, promoting discord and inflammatory rhetoric,\u00a0exacerbating\u00a0polarisation, and creating a permissive environment for violence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cAt the same time, global terrorism threats are re-emerging. Traditional groups such as Islamic State and al-Qa\u2019ida and their affiliates are growing their capability to conduct and inspire attacks, enabled both by permissive geographic and online spaces.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Burgess said ASIO had foiled 31 \u201cmajor\u201d terrorism plots since 2014.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fourteen \u201csignificant terror-related cases\u201d\u00a0had\u00a0been resolved since the December 14 Bondi terror attack last year, he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Established organised crime networks have handed hostile state actors a ready-made platform to operate inside Australia, a national…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":764421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[31945,64,63,84041,3261,44,364436,47714,30268,5316,10702],"class_list":["post-764420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-asio","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-burgess","tag-mike","tag-news","tag-shoebridge","tag-sky-news","tag-spy","tag-terrorism","tag-tobacco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=764420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/764421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=764420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=764420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=764420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}