The third anniversary of AFP-led Operation Ironside, the largest organised crime investigation in the Southern Hemisphere, has been marked by 63 offenders sentenced to a combined 307 years’ imprisonment in Australia.
In June 2021 the overt phase of Operation Ironside was launched, with more than 4000 Australian law enforcement officers and members executing hundreds of search warrants across the country.
The AFP was assisted by state and territory law enforcement agencies across the nation, with specialist teams and members supporting the execution of search warrants and arrests for Operation Ironside Australia-wide.
The support from Australian law enforcement partners remains ongoing and has been critical to the success of AFP-led Operation Ironside.
As of June 2024, there have been 392 alleged offenders charged with 2355 offences, such as trafficking illicit drugs, money laundering and dealing in the proceeds of crime. It is possible more individuals will be charged under Operation Ironside.
Many alleged offenders remain before the courts, however, 63 offenders across the country – including those linked to outlaw motorcycle gangs and other serious organised crime – have pleaded guilty or have been convicted at trial.
Collectively, they have been sentenced to 307 years’ imprisonment, meaning some of Australia’s most significant illicit drug traffickers, or those who committed or planned serious crimes, are now in prison, helping to make Australian suburbs safer. The average sentence was five years’ imprisonment.
The highest number of alleged offenders sentenced were in NSW, where 22 individuals are serving a collective 121 years’ imprisonment.
Nineteen offenders in South Australia have been sentenced to a collective 100 years’ imprisonment.
Of the 14 Victorians who have been sentenced, they have been ordered to spend a collective 52 years’ in prison.
Operation Ironside was a three-year, covert investigation into significant organised crime syndicates that were using a dedicated encrypted communications device, named AN0M, to traffic illicit drugs and weapons to Australia, as well as order local executions.
Working with the FBI from 2018-2021, AN0M messages were read in real time until law enforcement shut down the platform at resolution in June 2021.
During Operation Ironside, there was 1659 active AN0M devices in Australia and a total of 19.37 million messages detected on the devices.
As a result of Operation Ironside, more than 6.6 tonnes of illicit drugs and $55.6 million in illicit cash, plus 149 weapons and firearms, were seized in Australia. This amount of illicit drugs seized equates to about 16 per cent of the total amount of illicit drugs seized in Australia in 2020-2021.*
AFP Assistant Commissioner Crime Kirsty Schofield said Ironside was the biggest organised crime operation in the AFP’s 40-year history, and it continued to deliver a significant blow to transnational serious organised crime groups, based in Australia and offshore.
“Not only have we severely disrupted organised crime in Australia, but we have made the community safer by ensuring serious criminals have been sentenced to long periods of imprisonment,” Assistant Commissioner Schofield said.
“And we did in an ingenious way. I again acknowledge our intelligent and dedicated members who found a unique solution to sit in the back-pocket of criminals for three years, while we read every message that criminals thought were secret and encrypted.
“During that period of time, we watched very frustrated criminals who could not work out how their illicit drugs were being captured by the AFP. It is an understatement to say they were outsmarted by some very clever AFP members.
“We were also able to refer threats to kill to state police who would immediately take action.
“Additionally, the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce, has restrained the assets of some of those individuals, such as their homes, vehicles, jewellery and cash. The amount restrained has reached $64.6 million.
“This is yet another example of the AFP’s commitment to ensuring criminals do not profit from their crimes or use their ill-gotten wealth to live a life of luxury at the expense of the community.
“Even after they have served their sentences, they will not come home to enjoy the illegal wealth they have amassed or have access to it to invest in other illegal ventures.
“In one case, an alleged offender told the AFP, ‘I can take going to jail, but don’t take my house’.
“This is the two-pronged strategy under AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw. The AFP will bring serious offenders before the courts and we will target the proceeds of crime that has allowed so many offenders to live large, while undermining the safety and living standards of others.”
Assistant Commissioner Schofield said Operation Ironside relied on investigators, technical experts, and personnel who dedicated their lives to working on the investigation for several years.
“Three years on, with the sentencing of 63 offenders to a combined 307 years’ behind bars, and the potential for more to come, the AFP has sent a clear and powerful message to criminals in Australia and around the world that the AFP will relentlessly pursue those who seek to harm the Australian community through illicit and criminal enterprises,” she said.
“The success of Operation Ironside is a testament to the strength and commitment of our partnerships with the FBI, and other domestic and international law enforcement agencies, collaborating together to combat complex transnational serious organised crime.”
Assistant Commissioner Schofield said the intelligence gathered during Operation Ironside had enabled the AFP to disrupt serious organised crime groups and target other individuals, including trusted insiders and professional facilitators, linked to criminal illicit activities.
“When Operation Ironside began six years ago, there was a small number of dedicated encrypted communications platforms available on the market, but now criminals have diversified their communications in an attempt to evade and hinder law enforcement,” she said.
“As criminals evolve their methodologies, the AFP and law enforcement agencies around the world will continue to exploit their vulnerabilities and disrupt the cyber infrastructures that help facilitate serious organised crime.”
*Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC): Illicit Drug Data Report 2020-2021
OPERATION IRONSIDE DATA:
As at June 2024, 63 offenders have been sentenced in Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia as a result of Operation Ironside.
Important to note, the following includes both state and Commonwealth prosecutions as of June 2024. There are a number of ongoing prosecutions still before the courts.
States | No. offenders | No. years sentenced |
WA | 8 | 34 & 3 months |
NSW | 22 | 121 |
VIC | 14 | 52 |
SA | 19 | 100 |
QLD | 0 | 0 |
NT | 0 | 0 |
TAS | 0 | 0 |
63 | 307 years (and 3 months) |
CASE STUDIES:
Sydney man jailed over pseudoephedrine import:
- A Sydney man was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by the NSW District Court on 21 June, 2024, for his role in a plot to import 127kg of pseudoephedrine into Sydney.
- Intelligence obtained during Operation Ironside enabled the AFP to disrupt the man’s plan to smuggle the precursor into Australia from India.
Melbourne man jailed over 360kg meth importation:
- A Melbourne man, charged under Operation Ironside, was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for attempting to possess 360kg of methamphetamine.
- Intelligence gained as a result of Operation Ironside presented the AFP with significant evidence to charge the man on 7 June 2021 in connection to the 2020 drug import .
NSW man jailed for 500kg meth import conspiracy:
- A Newcastle man was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for his role in a conspiracy to import about 500kg of methamphetamine into Australia and for dealing with more than $100,000 of criminal proceeds.
- He was a key member of a transnational criminal syndicate – with links to the Lone Wolf Outlaw Motorcycle Gang – which imported commercial quantities of methamphetamine into NSW hidden in construction equipment.
Victorian man sentenced to eight years’ prison following Ironside intelligence:
- A Melbourne man arrested as part of Operation Ironside was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for importing methamphetamine, cocaine and dealing in the proceeds of crime.
- The Lalor man was arrested in May 2021 after intelligence linked him to the attempted importation of two kilograms of cocaine from Germany.
Western Australian man jailed for $6.1 million in cash as a result of Operation Ironside:
- A Western Australia man was sentenced to five years jail for his role in dealing in the proceeds of crime after $6.1 million in cash was discovered at a property in Western Australia in November 2020.
- The discovery of the cash came as a result of intelligence gained from the AN0M platform during the AFP-led Operation Ironside.
Operation Ironside: Sydney man jailed for his role in trafficking cocaine:
- A Sydney man was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on 8 September, 2022 for trafficking cocaine.
- Operation Ironside intelligence revealed the Maroubra man was involved in the trafficking of cocaine on an ongoing basis.
