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The AFP has charged more than 790 people with 1848 offences as part of investigations undertaken across the country, as the agency continues to keep Australians safe onshore and offshore in 2024.*

The charges, laid against 792 people between January 2024 and November 30 2024, relate to a range of crime types including transnational serious organised crime, money laundering, fraud, aviation, child exploitation, human trafficking, foreign interference, cybercrime, and counter-terrorism.

The Joint Counter Terrorism Teams (JCTTs) worked tirelessly to keep the Australian community safe this year. In 2024, 17 individuals were charged as a result of 12 counter-terrorism operations. Twelve of these individuals were 17 years of age or younger.

Youths accounted for 71 per cent of the overall individuals charged with terrorism offences. The charges range from committing a terrorist act to advocating terrorism, along with possessing/distributing extremist material, and acts in preparation for a terrorist offence.

In 2024, the AFP responded to approximately 20,000 incidents at airports and charged 1062 people with 1293 offences ranging from drug offences, prohibited items or weapons, assaults, offensive behaviour and money laundering.

Reports of human trafficking and slavery to the AFP reached an all-time high, following a 12 per cent increase in the 2023-24 financial year. The AFP received 382 reports of modern slavery and human trafficking which includes forced marriage, forced labour, sexual exploitation, domestic recruitment, and debt bondage.

The AFP’s operational success throughout the year also includes the seizure of 33.7 tonne of illicit drugs and the restraint of over $110 million in assets.

AFP Acting Commander Bill Polychronopoulos said the AFP was committed to serving and protecting the community in an ever-changing criminal environment across the country and around the world.

“The AFP’s operational results and achievements throughout 2024 highlight the incredible work we undertook alongside our state, Commonwealth and law enforcement partners both domestically and around the globe,” a/Commander Polychronopoulos said.

“I would like to thank our investigators, intelligence members, tech experts, and all other support capabilities, who continue to protect Australians year after year.”

One of the AFP’s most significant operational undertakings since Operation Ironside three years ago was Operation Kraken.

The operation so far has resulted in 52 people charged, and the seizure of about 230kg of illicit drugs, 29 illicit firearms and weapons, and $3.4 million in cash, as well as the restraint of $24.37 million of suspected illicit assets.

Operation Kraken was an investigation into ‘Ghost’, a global dedicated encrypted communication platform, allegedly built solely for the criminal underworld.

The AFP’s highly skilled technical experts engineered a covert solution to infiltrate Australian-based ‘Ghost’ devices allegedly used by criminals to facilitate illicit activities such as importing illicit drugs, laundering money, kidnapping, extortion, and organising violence.

Operation Kraken marked the first time an Australian-based person was accused of being an alleged mastermind and administrator of a global criminal platform.

In another matter, the AFP charged an Australian married couple with one count each of preparing for an espionage offence making it the first espionage offence ever laid in Australia since new laws were introduced by the Commonwealth in 2018.

The married pair were accused of obtaining Australian Defence Force material to share with Russian authorities and were arrested at their home in the Brisbane suburb of Everton Park in July, 2024.

The investigation, Operation Burgazada, was undertaken by the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce, which includes the AFP, ASIO, and other Commonwealth partners.

Another top priority for the AFP is combatting cybercrime. The AFP-led Joint Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3), under Operation Nebulae, arrested five Australians as part of a global takedown of a phishing platform in April 2024. The takedown resulted in the arrest of a further 32 cybercriminals by foreign law enforcement partners.

The platform, known as LabHost, was used by cybercriminals to steal personal credentials from victims across the world and more than 94,000 people in Australia.

LabHost was marketed as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for phishing tools before police shut down its domain and 207 servers used to host fraudulent phishing websites.

Its products were used to deceive victims into providing their personal information, such as online banking logins, credit card details and passwords, through persistent phishing attacks sent via texts and emails.    

A/Commander Bill Polychronopoulos said although 2024 was drawing to a close, the AFP’s work to target and dismantle criminal operations and bring perpetrators to justice was far from over.

“Our message to criminals is that the AFP won’t be slowing down over the holidays and our work is never done,” a/Commander Polychronopoulos said.

“The AFP doesn’t take a holiday and will continue to work collectively alongside our domestic and international law enforcement partners to combat corruption and investigate crime – both onshore and offshore.

“The AFP looks forward to continuing our work to protect the Australian community in 2025, and into the future.”

*Charge means arrest, summons, court attendance notice, or charged before court.