“They were in a boat that was seven metres long”.
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The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said that Melbourne-born radical preacher Musa Cerantonio, a vocal supporter of the Islamic State who was deported from the Philippines to Australia in 2014, was among those detained.
He said the men remain in custody and it was too early to go into more detail, or speculate as to whether they would be charged.
Canberra has been increasingly concerned about its citizens fighting with jihadist organisations such as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, saying some 110 Australians had left the country to join such groups.
“If disruption means ultimately we don’t get sufficient evidence so we can charge them, we’ll accept that risk”, he said.
He alleged the five men, whose passports had already been revoked amid suspicions of their involvement in terrorist activities, towed a boat from Melbourne to Cairns in an effort to leave Australian shores.
“This investigation is in no way related to Neil Prakash’s death”, Deputy Commissioner Patton said.
He said that if the suspects were to make it to Syria they could come back “battle hardened”, highly skilled and further radicalized, representing an even greater threat to Australians.
“Mr Cerantonio’s known social media postings are considered offensive and disturbing, however, [they] have been assessed as not breaching Australian law to this point”, police said at the time.
“We will continue to disrupt, if they’re trying to get this, be it via boat, via plane or any other method”.
George Brandis says eight search warrants were executed in Melbourne following the arrests.
He said he would not divulge where the men were being held for security reasons.
Senator Brandis said the men had been arrested shortly after arriving in far north Queensland, adding it was believed to be the first attempt of its kind to leave Australia by vessel.
An older brother, Shayden, returned to Australia in 2014 after being jailed in Saudi Arabia on terror offences.
Entering or preparing to enter a foreign country to engage in a hostile activity is a crime punishable by life imprisonment. They have been arrested and taken into custody, where they now are.
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The attorney-general also refused to confirm reports that Cerantonio was among those arrested.
