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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-06-23 Daily Xml
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Operation Ironside

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:41): My matter of interest today deals with Operation Ironside, which is a combined operation of the Australian Federal Police and police organisations right around the world, including our own South Australian police force. It has shed light into the world of illegal business, criminal mastery and the industry of hardened encrypted devices. The investigation was conducted through an application called ANOM, an encrypted messaging service used to lure criminals, where they would unwittingly be monitored by the legal authorities.

The three-year operation provided police with insider information on various illegal activities. Photographs, text messages and invoices were sent via the app, with information ranging from money laundering processes to the precise locations of drop-off points for drug-based trade right around the globe.

What started as the dispersion and monitoring of 50 devices by the AFP quickly became a global operation. With an ending total of some 1,650 encrypted devices involved, police could access and decrypt 25 million messages in real time. The app was organically shared on the illegal market through 'influencers', as they are called, that is major crime figures, who endorsed the credibility of the ANOM application and encouraged other criminals to utilise it. Additionally, the devices were sold for a subscription fee of $1,700 per six-month period, which users unknowingly and ironically paid to the police force.

A key element of the app's success was the void for cryptic communications in the criminal market, an opportunity capitalised on through the collaborations between the Australian Federal Police and the United States FBI, and, as I said, included our own state police force.

Assistant Commissioner for Crime, Peter Harvey, was relieved after the success of the initial operation on Monday 7 June, saying that while Monday's operation was significant because of its size and scope many similar operations on a smaller scale were conducted as part of SAPOL's fight against organised crime. The nationwide, synchronised, police-led confrontation lasted for a total of 20 succinct minutes.

Thirty of the state's most experienced police officers were in the restricted administering room, with 400 others actively involved in the mass raid. The meticulously planned timings of the operation meant that no police officer was harmed during the raids—thank goodness. Despite the enormous inherent risks and pressures, all offenders had been caught off guard and without incident.

As a result of this operation, South Australia Police have so far seized $1.8 million in cash, 90 kilograms of methamphetamines, 354 kilograms of cannabis, 45 litres of fantasy, 25 kilograms of precursor chemicals, 30 firearms, 10,000 ecstasy tablets and have taken into possession 68 illegally owned vehicles.

Carrying out 47 charges and dismantling three drug laboratories in South Australia, they have also thwarted countless executions and other organised crime schemes. The numbers of arrests and seizing of illegally owned goods will only increase from here, with some 4,000 police currently raiding properties across Australia as this investigation goes on.

As Australia often has amongst the highest demand internationally and highest prices for illicit drugs, it is regarded as a profitable country for the drug trade. As we well know, drug usage has devastated families, individual prosperity and indeed social wellbeing. Through the ANOM app, police were able to track one user who had communicated through the app their plans to ship six kilograms of cocaine from Carlsbad in the North County of San Diego County to Australia, using a legitimate business address to conceal the deal.

However, as a result of Operation Ironside, allegedly one-third of all illicit drug transportation to Australia will cease to exist—one-third. Cracking the enigma of the underworld has meant that South Australia has become a safer place, exposing the hidden crimes that have been conducted near and surrounding our homes.

I would like to commend SAPOL for their great efforts and courage throughout this investigation. Without their dedication and commitment, the outcome of Operation Ironside could not have been as effective and successful as it evidently was. They have kept South Australians safe whilst putting their own lives at risk. They too have families and loved ones. They have homes, they have a life and people they need to provide for, and yet they have shown that they are willing to place their lives in danger for the sake of protecting our community.

They are incredibly inspiring, strong and loyal to their cause. Thus, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our police force for its incredible work and the great success of Operation Ironside.

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