Sydney teenager charged with organising overseas contract killings

Sydney, April 17 (IANS) Australian authorities have arrested and charged a teenage foreign national for allegedly facilitating contract killings in Europe.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said on Thursday that the 15-year-old was arrested on Wednesday after officers executed a search warrant in western Sydney.

In a joint statement with Danish Police and the Swedish Police Authority, the AFP said that the teenager is accused of using an encrypted application to facilitate plans for contract killings in Denmark and Sweden on behalf of a transnational crime syndicate.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the 15-year-old is a Swedish national.

He has been charged with one count of using a telecommunications device to commit conspiracy to murder and one count of using a telecommunications device to commit murder.

The AFP said that it commenced an investigation earlier in April after receiving information from Danish Police about a foreign national living in Australia allegedly linked to attempts to organise crimes-as-a-service contract killings in Europe.

During Wednesday's search, AFP officers seized electronic devices that will be subject to forensic examination.

"The AFP regularly works with foreign policing partners, such as the Danish Police, and the identification of these alleged international criminal links is a testament to the enduring partnership and collaboration between our agencies," AFP Commander Brett James said.

The 15-year-old appeared before a Sydney children's court on Wednesday where he was formally refused bail. He is scheduled to appear before the same court on June 11.

In a separate development, two teenagers have been arrested and charged over a home invasion stabbing in Sydney's inner suburbs, police said on Thursday.

Officers in the state of New South Wales were on Wednesday evening called to reports of an aggravated break and enter at a home in Marrickville, six km southwest of central Sydney.

Officers attending the scene were told that about eight people wearing face coverings had forced entry to the property and stabbed a 16-year-old boy. The group left the home before officers arrived.

The boy was treated at the scene by ambulance paramedics for multiple stab wounds and was taken to hospital for further treatment.

NSW Police said in a statement that officers arrested two 15-year-old boys nearby following inquiries.

They were both taken to a nearby police station and charged with multiple criminal offenses, including affray, participating in a criminal group and contributing to criminal activity, Xinhua news agency reported. The first boy was also charged with having custody of a knife in a public place and being armed with the intent to commit an offense.

Nine Entertainment newspapers reported that members of the group of attackers and the 16-year-old victim are believed to be known to each other.

Police said that inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the incident are ongoing.

--IANS

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