11 May 2016•Update: 11 May 2016
By Jill Fraser
MELBOURNE, Australia
Australian police confirmed Wednesday that five men have been arrested on suspicion of attempting to sail on a small boat to Indonesia, with the intention of eventually trying to reach Syria to join Daesh.
The five Australians -- whose passports had previously been canceled -- are being investigated for foreign incursion offences after they drove from the southern city of Melbourne to the north of Queensland state while towing the boat, according to news broadcaster ABC.
Victoria state’s police deputy commissioner described the case as “a serious attempt by five men, who are of a security interest to us [and] who've had their passports canceled... to exit Australia".
"We can't allow Australians to leave Australia and support terrorism anywhere," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Shane Patton as saying.
"It's premature to make any presumption about guilt or innocence and we'll see where the evidence takes us," he said.
The suspects -- aged between 21 and 33 -- were arrested Tuesday after traveling more than 1,800 miles (around 2,900 kilometers) with the 7-meter (23-feet) boat.
Patton confirmed that at least eight warrants were executed for arrests Tuesday afternoon in Melbourne and Queensland.
Among the five were Musa Cerantonio, who London-based think-tank the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation has described as "an outspoken cheerleader for ISIS [Daesh]".
Others were Kadir Kaya, who told local radio in October that he hated Australia but could not leave due to his passport being revoked, and Shayden Thorne, the brother of Junaid Thorne -- who, like Cerantonio, has been accused by authorities of making “extremist” posts online.
Australia has been engaged in efforts to increase anti-terror measures in recent years.
The country passed legislation in December to strip dual nationals of their citizenship if they are convicted or suspected of terrorism offences.
It has already banned its citizens from traveling to Mosul and Syria’s Raqqa province -- unless they have a “legitimate purpose” for being there.
