'Inside the 'AN0M' bust: How fake encrypted app sting saw 4,000 cops sweep through the underworld arresting more than 100 and seizing a trove of 3.77 tonnes of drugs, $45 million in cash, guns and GODFATHER memorabilia
Huge AFP bust has seen 4,000 cops storm Australia's underworld overnight
In the nation's biggest ever police bust, more than 100 have been arrested
Cops used world-leading tech to bust criminals' encrypted message systems
Ninja Warrior star Sopiea Kong was arrested after 154g of meth was seized
Bachelorette star Samuel Minkin was charged with possession of cannabis
Former Bandito bikie Benjamin Joseph Thornton was arrested and denied bail
Police charged 224 alleged offenders and shut down six clandestine laboratories
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By ALANA MAZZONI and KYLIE STEVENS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 20:08 EDT, 7 June 2021 | UPDATED: 23:18 EDT, 7 June 2021
Australia's biggest ever police bust has seen not only seen the arrests of the Who's Who of the global criminal underworld, but yielded an extraordinary haul of 3.77 tonnes of drugs, $45 million in cash, guns, luxury cars, motorbikes and watches.
Australian Federal Police released pictures of the wealth, firepower and even taste in gangster movies of those arrested during sweeping raids across the country, the U.S., Britain and wider Europe after the alleged criminals were covertly monitored for three years using an encrypted communication app called 'AN0M'.
They allegedly used the app, which was developed by the FBI and the Australian Federal Police, to message each other around the world, unaware everything they said and did was being intercepted by FBI special agents and the Australian Federal Police.
The app gained currency in the underworld after being promoted by drug kingpins such as Australia's most wanted man, Hakan Ayik, after first being distributed by police informants.
Through the covert operation, detectives allegedly uncovered 21 murder plots, gun distribution and mass drug trafficking, with mafia bosses, bikies, and reality TV stars arrested and charged.
A luxury Ducati motorcycle, Audi sedan, Rolex watches, ammunition, bullet-proof vests, firearms and even memorabilia from the 1972 cult classic The Godfather was seized from a number of properties.
Senior investigators allege '100 per cent' of telephone conversations intercepted on the devices were all business and in relation to criminal activity.
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