Australian Police Examining Suspicious Packages Left at Foreign Consulates

"The packages are being examined by attending emergency services," an Australian Federal Police spokeswoman said. "The circumstances surrounding these incidents are being investigated."

• By Jessica Davis
• Jan 10, 2019

Australian authorities are investigating after suspicious packages were discovered at multiple foreign consulates and embassies in Melbourne and Canberra on Wednesday.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corp., footage showed emergency service workers at the U.S., Greek, French, Italian, Indian, New Zealand, Pakistani, Spanish, South Korean and Swiss consulates in Melbourne. They were also at an incident at the South Melbourne building were the Consulate General of Turkey is based.

A New Zealand official told the ABC that their consulate received an envelope, inside of which were small plastic bags with the word “asbestos” written on the outside. The bags were filled with what appeared to be concrete and asbestos. A police officer was seen wearing a face mask inside the New Zealand consulate.

A spokesman for the U.S. Melbourne consulate told ABC it had also received a suspicious package.

"We handled the package according to our standard procedures and in close coordination with local authorities — the Melbourne Fire Brigade and the Australian Federal Police — who are investigating the incident," he said.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said they were aware of the rash of suspicious packages being delivered.

"The packages are being examined by attending emergency services," an AFP spokeswoman said. "The circumstances surrounding these incidents are being investigated."

"At this time we believe the matter is targeted and not impacting the general community," Victoria Police said in a statement. Victoria is the state in which Melbourne is located.

These incidents followed an incident Monday in which the Argentinian consulate in Sydny was sent three bags containing fiberglass and asbestos.