SYDNEY, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The owner of a caravan found filled with explosives in northwest Sydney, the capital city of Australia's state of New South Wales (NSW), is already in police custody, authorities have said.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb, state Premier Chris Minns and deputy police commissioner David Hudsotheon Thursday said that the owner of the caravan was already in custody at the time of its discovery. They said that the owner had been arrested for alleged offenses being investigated by a strikeforce investigating hate crimes.
Minns and Hudson on Wednesday night said that the caravan was found filled with enough explosives to cause a "mass casualty event", and documents indicating they were intended to be used in an antisemitic attack, about 25 km northwest of central Sydney on Jan. 19.
Webb said on Thursday that no detonator was found in the caravan.
"It's important that the public understands that not only has the caravan been removed and the contents removed from the public, but also the owner is out of play and in custody," she said.
"So the risk to the public has been mitigated early on."
Over 100 officers from multiple agencies have been assigned to investigate whether the caravan was preparation for a terrorism event, Webb said.
Both Webb and Minns defended the decision to keep the discovery secret for 10 days, saying it had allowed authorities to sift through the available evidence.
"If the police believe that covert means are the best way of locking up people who are responsible for these actions, that's what needs to happen," Minns said.
He promised that investigators would leave "no stone unturned". ■
