Drug cartels and other organised crime groups are being infiltrated and assisted by hostile foreign governments to launder dirty cash and peddle illegal substances in Australia.
The alarming assessment was made by the country's top policeman at a Sydney meeting of leading crime-fighting figures from the Five Eyes nations of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw, who currently chairs the Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group (FLEG) says "the long shadow of organised crime and state aggression" is fuelling an increase in serious crimes.
"State actors and citizens from some nations are using our countries at the expense of our sovereignty and economies," Commissioner Kershaw told a gathering of visiting representatives from domestic and international agencies on Wednesday night.
Speaking to top figures from organisations including the FBI, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, New Zealand Police and the UK's National Crime Agency, Commissioner Kershaw confirmed that "federal crime in Australia is increasing".
"Contributing to this increase is the long shadow of organised crime and state aggression," he told his audience, which included new Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.
"For the AFP, geopolitics and regional instability continue to influence our strategic priorities," he said.
"Our operational focus remains countering terrorism, espionage and foreign interference; child exploitation; cyber; fraud, and transnational serious organised crime – what we call transnational, serious and organised crime (TSOC)".
The AFP Commissioner also revealed "a significant number of TSOC syndicates targeting Australia have moved offshore to escape or deceive law enforcement".
Commissioner Kershaw did not specify which foreign states were involved.
He described how money-laundering organisations from one unspecified region were clearly visible in all Five Eyes countries.
"TSOC's crime model is made easier by countries that have unregulated chemical and financial markets."
"We cannot ignore that some countries are producing [drug] precursors at an eye-watering scale."
"We also cannot ignore that some countries, I'd argue, are turning a blind eye to the proceeds of crime washing through their economies."
