An international covert sting linked to the encrypted AN0M platform which brought down hundreds of alleged criminals and netted cash, drugs and weapons has reached a new phase.
The international sting which brought down criminals around the world and netted cash, drugs, weapons and other items in 2021 has entered a new phase.For three years, law agencies enforcement secretly ran an encrypted messaging app they purposefully placed in the hands of criminals to covertly collect their unfettered communications.
The AN0M application -- created by a criminal informant and obtained by the FBI in 2018 -- captured millions of messages from around the world, including about 19 million relating to Australia. It all came to a head on June 7, 2021, when the app was disabled and coordinated international raids led to the arrests of hundreds of alleged criminals for offences ranging from alleged plots to kill, mass drug trafficking and gun distribution. This week, on the heels of a High Court ruling earlier this month which backed the use of the intelligence garnered from the communications, South Australian police launched the third batch of coordinated pre-dawn raids, making a further 55 arrests. Separately, that ruling has also prompted some of the major players arrested as part of the first sting to begin entering guilty pleas.The "most significant operation in policing history here in Australia" was only part of a much larger operation, code named Trojan Shield, that spanned the globe. -- who had mostly developed that technology was recruited by the FBI in exchange for the possibility of a reduced sentence. CHS was a convicted narcotics importer who was already established in criminal circles and helped distribute the device among criminals. To get a phone with AN0M, you had to know someone who had one and then you had to pay a monthly fee to the syndicates that were then handing them out. For underworld figures, it was billed as the most secure communications tool in the world. AN0M devices could only communicate with others using the app, which was hidden in each phone's calculator.The devices appeared like any off-the-shelf smartphone, but were stripped of any other capabilities and were unable to make calls or send emails. The FBI worked with the Australian Federal Police who "developed a world-first capability to unscramble encrypted communications" and secretly captured all data sent between devices using the platform. Features of AN0M included self-expiring messages, the ability to take, pixelate and send photos, voice alteration and secure file storage. The initial distribution occurred in Australia, where the AFP conducted a "beta test" on 50 devices, obtaining a court order to legally monitor the AN0M communications. According to the AFP, arrests using intelligence garnered from AN0M began within the first year of operation. On June 7, 2021, a coordinated two-day take-down began in Australia and stretched across Europe and into the United States, leading to the arrests of more than 500 people across the globe.More than 50 people have been arrested and charged with more than 800 offences in a major Operation Ironside sting across South Australia linked to the encrypted AN0M app.In South Australia, 95 alleged offenders were arrested, 30 firearms were seized and more than 600 kilograms of illicit drugs were intercepted. By the end of August, 2021, the AFP reported almost 1,000 suspects had been arrested around the world, while authorities had seized about 220 firearms, $58 million USD in currency and cryptocurrency.At the same time, the AN0M devices -- which had been used by more than 300 criminal syndicates operating in 100 countries globally -- were disabled.According to the AFP, there were 1,659 active AN0M devices in Australia and a total of 19.37 million messages detected on the devices. By June 2024, the AFP reported almost 400 offenders in Australia had been charged with 2,355 offences, including trafficking illicit drugs, money laundering and dealing with the proceeds of crime.Those charged with offences as part of Operation Ironside were swiftly brought before the courts. In the intervening years since the first arrests, some offenders have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced, while many trials were delayed to await the outcome of a test case challenging the gathering of material from AN0M and seeking to have it excluded. The case was fast-tracked to Adelaide's Supreme Court, before being referred to the Court of Appeal in SA which In November 2024, the High Court granted special leave to hear the matter, but new federal laws were passed to "confirm" information obtained under specified warrants issued to the AFP was "not intercepted" and therefore lawfully obtained. The two men at the centre of the test case have now pleaded guilty to participating in a criminal organisation, with one entering his plea on the same day as the ruling and the other admitting to the charge the day before.Since the ruling, several other guilty pleas have been entered by those arrested as part of the operation, including several men charged over a large drug operation who were due to stand trial in South Australia's District Court this week. Another two SA men have each also entered pleas on several files, mostly drug trafficking and manufacturing charges, while more people accused of Operation Ironside-related offending are expected to follow suit.This led to a further series of raids, beginning before dawn and involving almost 300 officers on Wednesday.Police arrested 55 people who were charged with more than 800 mostly drug-related offences, taking the total number of people arrested in SA as part of Operation Ironside to 164.The deputy commissioner said detectives had worked "tirelessly" over two years and had reviewed more than 2.5 million messages ahead of the latest arrests. She said those arrested as part of the latest sting should have a "much more efficient" path through the court system.
An0m Anom Encrypted Arrests Sentence App Phone Sting AFP FBI Trojan
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Encrypted police group chat stops case against Canberra Raiders star Josh PapaliiCharges against Canberra Raiders prop Josh Papalii have been permanently stayed after it was revealed police had been discussing the case in a group chat on encrypted messaging service Signal.
Read more "
Australian Underworld Shooting in Bali Ordered via Encrypted AppAn Indonesian court heard that the fatal shooting of an Australian man in Bali was ordered from Australia using an encrypted app. The trial of three Australians accused of the ambush began, with prosecutors alleging a fourth Australian directed the crime.
Read more "
Three Australians are accused of a fatal ambush in Bali. A fourth was running the showThe brazen underworld shooting of two Australians at a luxury villa in Bali was allegedly ordered from Australia via an encrypted app, and was months in the planning.
Read more "
Three Australians are accused of a fatal ambush in Bali. A fourth was running the showThe brazen underworld shooting of two Australians at a luxury villa in Bali was allegedly ordered from Australia via an encrypted app, and was months in the planning.
Read more "
Week in wildlife: a tiger in a tube, migrating crabs and busy Highland beaversThe best of this week's wildlife photographs from around the world
Read more "
The week around the world in 20 picturesHurricane Melissa, Russian strikes on Kyiv, displacement in Sudan and Trump's meeting with Xi in Busan: the past seven days as captured by the world's leading photojournalists
Read more "