More than 50 people have been arrested and charged with 833 offences in the latest phase of Operation Ironside, a sweeping crackdown on organised crime in South Australia linked to the encrypted AN0M app.
Deputy Police Commissioner Linda Williams confirmed that 55 people were taken into custody on Tuesday, bringing the total number of arrests under the operation since 2021 to 164.
“This is a significant blow to organised crime across South Australia,” Williams said, noting that nearly 300 officers carried out coordinated raids at 23 properties before dawn. Police seized $25.8 million in assets, including 70 vehicles valued at $2.5 million among them two Harley Davidson motorcycles.
Authorities also restrained $588,000 in bank accounts, confiscated $192,000 in cash, and seized small amounts of cannabis, cocaine, and steroids. Six of those arrested were already in custody at the time of the raids.
Detectives have reviewed more than 2.5 million AN0M messages as part of the investigation. Those arrested now face a wide range of charges, including drug trafficking, drug manufacturing, and money laundering.
“This is a really strong deterrent message to organised criminals operating in South Australia,” Williams said. “We will create a hostile environment for you to operate in and we will continue to do so.”
She praised detectives for working “tirelessly” over the past two years to bring the operation to this stage, adding that intelligence from the AN0M app had been critical to the success.
Some of those arrested had previously been charged during the first wave of Operation Ironside in June 2021.
SEO Tags: Operation Ironside South Australia, AN0M app arrests, organised crime crackdown, South Australia police raids, Linda Williams police statement
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