Three Sydney men have been charged with more than 70 offences after an investigation into the alleged possession of illegal military-style guns by a group with suspected extremist ideology.
The trio, aged 26, 29, and 30, are due to face a Sydney bail court today after their arrest yesterday by counter-terror police.
Police seized 14 weapons over the course of the five-month investigation including an MK15 assault rifle, a pump-action shotgun and a 9mm Glock pistol.
Two banana magazines and 523 rounds of ammunition were also found….
None face terrorism charges.
The men are facing weapon supply charges.
Police said there was no evidence of plans for a terror attack.
523 rounds of ammunition were also seized.
Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Scott Lee said the investigation began in January following reports of a person with “extremist sympathies”, who was allegedly “aligned to the Islamic State ideology”, supplying firearms.
“We’ve captured evidence in terms of the extremist beliefs that are consistent with Islamic State and that’s obviously part of the information that we obtained that caused us such concern,” Mr Lee said,
“There’s no evidence (the man involved wanted to join ISIS) … but certainly the evidence is that he’s supportive of ISIS and was looking to provide funds to Islamic State if possible.”…
