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South Australia Police have arrested 55 people in a coordinated series of pre-dawn raids tied to Operation Ironside. Investigators filed more than 800 charges, including drug trafficking, firearms, conspiracy, and money-laundering offenses. Nearly 300 officers searched 23 properties as part of the third phase of the long-running probe. Police leaders described the effort as unprecedented for the state.
Authorities said this wave was built on intelligence from AN0M, the encrypted communications platform that law enforcement secretly controlled. Officers also indicated that more arrests could follow as inquiries continue. The latest action builds on prior phases of Ironside in South Australia, which began with large-scale arrests in 2021.
Police and the FBI seeded AN0M devices within criminal networks between 2018 and 2021. The platform copied messages before transmission, allowing agencies to read communications in near real time. Australian investigators later disabled the system and coordinated arrests across the country and overseas. In Australia alone, authorities recorded more than 19 million ANOM-related messages.
The Australian Federal Police has reported global seizures from Operation Ironside that include currency and cryptocurrency valued at more than US$58 million, alongside weapons and drugs. This week’s South Australian raids also resulted in asset seizures, adding to the totals already tracked in ongoing cases.
In early October, the High Court upheld laws that support the use of AN0M-derived material in prosecutions. The unanimous decision removed a major legal hurdle, clearing the way for pending matters to proceed. South Australian officials said the ruling paved the way for the latest arrests and will speed future cases connected to the sting.
Deputy Police Commissioner Linda Williams said detectives reviewed millions of intercepted messages while planning the third phase of the investigation. She called the mass operation a significant strike against organized crime. Leaders emphasized that additional suspects remain under active investigation.
Europol has recently warned that the criminal use of cryptocurrency and blockchain has become more sophisticated and organized. The agency stated that these trends impose a substantial burden on investigators across Europe, underscoring the need for enhanced cross-border cooperation and training. Australian officials have echoed similar concerns as they scale up complex digital evidence work.
Operation Ironside will remain a central test of those capabilities. The third-phase arrests show how legal clarity and technical intelligence can drive results. Investigators aim to sustain that momentum while courts hear the new charges and agencies trace assets linked to encrypted-app communications.
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