The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has marked 2019 as the 20th anniversary of its policy partnership with Chinese Law Enforcement Agencies.
Deputy Commissioner Operations at the AFP, Neil Gaughan (pictured) highlighted the collective work of the two Agencies since the AFP formally established an office in Beijing on 5 April 1999.
“The AFP was the first Law Enforcement Agency to be invited into China and we have worked together, strongly and productively, across a range of mutual transnational and serious organised crime types,” Deputy Commissioner Gaughan said.
“In particular, since 2015, the work of Taskforce Blaze has stopped more than 22 tonnes of narcotics and precursor chemicals from finding their way into the Australian community.”
He said that since 2017 the partnership had resulted in the seizure of more than $18 million worth of property on behalf of Chinese authorities related to Chinese people in Australia involved in illegal activities, primarily money laundering.
“These examples show how crucial this relationship is in creating a more safe and secure region — and protecting our countries from mutual crime threats,” Deputy Commissioner Gaughan said.
“We have achieved success, and we look forward to building on this success over the next 20 years.”
Director General of the International Cooperation Department of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, Liao Jinrong said the China-Australia law enforcement cooperation had become an important part of bilateral relations of the two countries.
“I hope that under the concept of cooperation, innovation, rule of law and mutual benefit, the two sides will work hard for the next 20 years of China-Australian law enforcement cooperation,” Mr Liao said.
