The Australian Federal Police have confirmed classified documents from the Colombian government exposing agents working to stop international drug cartels from operating in Australia have been exposed in a hack.
Nine Newspapers has reported more than five million emails and tens of thousands of documents, and the details of 35 AFP operations, were hacked and held in a password-protected database in August.
An Australian Federal Police spokesperson said they were assessing what information hackers stole and they were concerned about possible breaches of operational security as a result of the data compromise.
"The AFP is currently assessing the information that may have been obtained from Colombian law enforcement as part of this hacking activity," they said.
"The AFP is working with our partners in impacted regions to mitigate any potential threats to the safety of people, or ongoing investigations."
The spokesperson said the AFP was working with counterparts in impacted areas to mitigate any potential threats to the safety of people, or to investigations.
"Operations carried out with involvement from Colombian law enforcement agencies have resulted in the detection of a large amount of drug importations bound for Australia, and disrupted drug cartels through arrests and prosecutions undertaken by Colombia authorities," they said.
The spokesperson said transnational organised crime groups were importing illicit drugs into Australia on an industrial scale.
"They are ambivalent to the misery caused by their product, its impact on our health systems, or if innocent people are killed in the crossfire of their turf wars."
About 70 per cent of Australia's serious and organised crime threats are based offshore or have strong offshore links, according to the AFP.
During the 2021-22 financial year, the AFP was involved in 266 international disruption operations that prevented drugs from reaching Australian shores.
