Bad news for alleged criminals nabbed in AN0M app sting under Operation Ironside

A final attempt to block information covertly obtained by Australian and US police through a digital Trojan horse in criminal networks has failed.

Operation Ironside was an international sting set up to clamp down on organised crime.

Encrypted AN0M devices were sent to alleged criminals and secretly monitored by the Australian Federal Police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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Around 1700 devices were delivered to the criminal community during the three-year operation to 2021, according to AFP figures.

Presently, 392 people have been charged through Ironside in the Australian courts.

Two of these accused sought to challenge whether information gained by police through the AN0M app could be lawfully used as evidence in court.

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The two men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, submitted that the AN0M messages were unlawfully communicated and could not be used to prosecute any alleged criminals.

These arguments were rejected in both the South Australian Supreme Court and the state's Court of Appeal.

In November 2024, the federal government introduced legislation saying that information had been lawfully gathered through the AN0M app. 

With the legal challenge elevated to Australia's High Court, the two accused argued that this new law was invalid because it was an "impermissible exercise" by parliament and it undermined the integrity of the court.

These arguments were unanimously dismissed by the High Court's full bench today.

The change in law merely altered how the courts viewed the admissibility of evidence but left judges and magistrates to determine the exact facts of each case and resolve each matter, the panel of seven judges wrote.

Attorneys-general from NSW, Victoria and Western Australia all intervened in the case.

Federal police said in June 2024 that the 392 people charged faced over 2300 offences including drug trafficking, money laundering and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

More than 6.6 tonnes of drugs and $55.6 million in cash had been seized.

Those arrested and charged had been sentenced to a total of 307 years collectively, the AFP said at the time.

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