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Aust'n police raid Melbourne homes linked to IS boat plot

Xinhua, May 17, 2016 Adjust font size:

Australian police carried out raids on Tuesday in Melbourne linked to a group of would-be terrorists who allegedly planned to flee Australia via a seven-meter boat to join Islamic State (IS).

On Tuesday morning, Victoria Police and Australia Federal Police (AFP) followed-up on several search warrants at properties in north and northwest Melbourne.

The raids are part of the Victorian Counter Terrorism Team's Operation Middleham, which led to the arrests of five men in the Queensland city of Cairns last week.

"The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team are currently executing a number of warrants in the northern and northwestern suburbs of Melbourne as a part of Operation Middleham," a police spokeswoman said in a statement on Tuesday.

"This operational activity is not linked to any increased threat or danger to the community.

"As the matter is before the court, we are unable to comment further."

The dwellings were located in the Melbourne suburbs of West Footscray, Broadmeadows and Epping.

Investigators finished searching the Broadmeadows property just after 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

The group of five, who were all on counterterrorism watch lists and had their passports revoked, were charged on Saturday with making preparations for incursions into foreign countries to engage in hostile activities.

Victoria Police will allege the men, all from Melbourne and aged between 21 and 31, planned to sail the seven-meter boat from Cape York on the far north tip of Queensland to Indonesia, and then fly to Syria to fight for IS.

On Monday, the group appeared in Cairns Magistrates Court, with the AFP successfully applying for the extradition back to Victoria.

The group will face Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Family, friends and supporters of the Melbourne men, named in court documents as Robert Cerantonio, Shayden Thorne, Kadir Kaya, Antonio Granata and Paul Dacre, have claimed the group were in Queensland for a fishing trip.

If found guilty they each face life in prison. Endit