Airport security crackdown intercepts 11 suspected terrorists in first month

Authorities have intercepted 11 suspected terrorists at Melbourne and Sydney airports in less than a month in a counter-terrorism crackdown.

Images of beheadings and other violent Islamist propaganda, as well as thousands of dollars in cash were found by officers who searched the suspects, the Herald Sun reports.

Others were caught on visa and passport fraud offences.

A twelfth man, 19-year-old Ahmad Saiyer Naizmand, of NSW, allegedly flew out of Sydney on his brother’s passport before being deported back to Australia from the United Arab Emirates.

Counter-Terrorism Units came into force in late August, with the government changing the instruction to its Customs and Border Protection officers from “facilitation as a priority to security as a priority” in response to the growing terror threat from ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

“That means that on occasion, flights will be held, people and baggage will have to be unloaded… but this is important for our national security,” a spokesman said.