Aussies foil terror plan to crash jet
Four held in police swoop had planned to down plane with homemade gas bomb
AUSTRALIA has foiled a plot to down a plane with a homemade gas bomb hidden in a meat mincer.
Four men were arrested in Sydney as 40 heavily armed officers in gas masks swooped on five homes after a tip-off from an overseas security service.
Authorities had beefed up security at the city’s airport and acted as the plot was in “a different league” – and they feared the gang were set to strike.
Local media said the device, which was to have been smuggled on in kitchen gear as hand luggage, would have emitted a toxic, sulphur-based gas and either killed or immobilised people.
It is thought the terror cell intended to target a flight to the Middle East. The Lebanese-Australian men held were father-and-son pairs linked by marriage.
It is believed explosive teams recovered a suspicious device.
Armed police kept guard as forensics teams searched sites, bringing out bags of evidence.
Items seized at one home included a domestic grinder and a box containing a multi-mincer for making sausages.
Material to make a bomb, which was understood to be “ready to go”, was allegedly found at one house.
A woman led from a raid said “I love Australia” and a man with a cut head was removed by ambulance.
Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said the threat was “very real” and the alert level remained at “probable”.
Federal police commissioner Andrew Colvin added: “We believe it is Islamic-inspired. Terrorists are becoming very ingenious about figuring out new ways to defeat our security mechanisms.”
Police have applied to hold the men for up to seven days before charging or releasing them.