The ‘hedonist’ sailor and the caravan terror plot suspect

A self-proclaimed hedonistic sailor has been charged with allegedly helping a key player in the Dural caravan terror hoax conspiracy flee the country to Phuket.

Australian Federal Police officers on Friday arrested German national Thomas Goertz, 51, in Darwin and charged him with one count of people smuggling over his role in helping wanted alleged drug smuggler Sayit Erhan Akca, 35, flee authorities in September 2023.

Akca is believed to be a key player in the alleged fake terror conspiracy, including the discovery of explosives in a Dural caravan and a spate of antisemitic attacks, which police now believe were designed to either distract police or influence a prosecution.

Officers from the AFP’s Operation Harrakis, which is investigating a criminal syndicate suspected of helping organised crime figures flee Australia, last week arrested and charged 57-year-old Sean Eamon Ryan, from Bargara in Bundaberg, for allegedly helping Akca flee.

Ryan was granted bail and will next appear in court on May 16.

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Akca was facing charges of dealing with proceeds of crime over $100,000 at the time of his escape and was later charged with conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs. He was charged as part of the AFP’s Operation Ironside – a three-year covert operation targeting users of encrypted communications device AN0M.

Police allege that Goertz hired Ryan as a deckhand about 10 days before the yacht allegedly carrying Akca left Thursday Island on September 21, 2023. The yacht allegedly arrived in Phuket on November 2.

Posts on Goertz’s Instagram account, where he labels himself a “sailor”, “adventurer”, “hedonist”, and “anti-authoritarian”, show the 51-year-old’s regular voyages in Asia.