Man arrested at Melbourne Airport for extremist material

After flying in from Malaysia, the man was arrested by the Australian Federal Police’s National Security Investigations team for allegedly possessing “violent extremist material”.

Allegedly, before the man’s departure from Melbourne on 5 May, he was confronted by Australian Border Force officers, where “suspicious material was located on his mobile phone”.

“A subsequent forensic analysis of the device revealed he was in possession of alleged ISIS-inspired violent extremist material,” The AFP and ABF said in a joint statement.

He was denied bail and will appear in court on 7 August.

Four other Victorian men were charged with similar offences last week following similar alleged identification of extremist online content at Melbourne Airport.

In one case, a man was intercepted by ABF officers after disembarking from a flight from Turkey, where the AFP were notified of “suspicious content” on the man’s mobile phone.

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ABF Commander Operations, Victoria Clinton Sims, said these operations represented the ABF’s critical role in upholding national security.

“This operation demonstrates how intelligence and border capabilities are combined to identify individuals of concern and take coordinated action at the border and beyond.”

“Protecting Australia’s border is central to protecting our national security, and we will continue to work with our partners to disrupt terrorism-related activity wherever it emerges.”