Descendants bikie gang linked to $119m haul of deadly drug Ice into South Australia

NOTORIOUS bikie gang the Descendants has been linked to a $119 million importation of the deadly drug ice into South Australia, with prosecutors revealing the shipment was tracked by police to a property owned by senior gang members.

Three men associated with the gang have been charged over the huge ice haul, with an estimated street value of $119 million. Picture: Australian Border Force.

THE Descendants bikie gang has been linked to a failed plot to import $119 million of the deadly drug ice into South Australia.

While three associates of the gang have so far been charged over the huge importation, federal police are continuing investigations into the suspected masterminds of the operation.

The 113kg shipment was concealed within hollow steel beams and detected in routine X-ray examinations after arriving in Melbourne from Malaysia in April.

A similar shipment that contained $1.5 million in cash and earmarked for export was also detected as result of the initial discovery. The money is believed to have been the proceeds of drug sales from earlier shipments.

The discovery of the drugs led to an undercover operation that spanned two states before federal agents swooped on those involved in Adelaide’s northern suburbs.

After being discovered during routine X-raying, the drugs were substituted by federal agents and a covert delivery operation was mounted that ultimately led detectives to an isolated SA property.

It can be revealed the property on which the beams containing the substituted drugs were seized belongs to a family with at least three Descendants members.

The drugs were concealed inside a purpose built transport stand, being used to secure commercial equipment. Picture: AFP

Located at Bowhill, 60km north east of Murray Bridge, it is owned by a family trust controlled by a senior Descendants member, although there has been no suggestion that he has any personal involvement in this case.

Federal police have established that two of the charged men, Joseph Farrelly and John McInerney, travelled Indonesia in June last year.

The duo and a third man, Aidan Nelson, have each been charged with drug-importation charges and face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted. McInerney is also facing charges in connection with items found at his house.

In a Supreme Court bail application for McInerney, details of the importation operation were revealed and the tactics used by the alleged offenders to avoid detection.

Commonwealth DPP prosecutor Jane Powell outlined the discovery of the methamphetamines and the covert operation.

The Supreme Court heard seven steel beams containing the substituted drugs were picked up from Melbourne airport by McInerney and taken to a rural property in Victoria.

They were then transferred to another vehicle — driven by Nelson — and taken to the Bowhill property.

The drugs were concealed inside a purpose built transport stand, being used to secure commercial equipment. Picture: AFP

It is alleged some of the drugs were accessed at the property from three of the steel beams and another four were buried. Police also allege that during the convoy from Victoria to SA, Nelson and McInerney used two-way radios, rather than mobile phones that could be intercepted.

During the search of McInerney’s vehicle, police will say they also discovered an encrypted BlackBerry phone — commonly used by bikie gang members to communicate with one another.

“This is an encrypted phone and how that is different from other known encrypted phones is that it is a phone which requires two separate 12-digit pass codes to enter it,’’ Ms Powell told the court. “More than three attempts to enter the phone incorrectly will delete all of the data on it.

“It is a phone that cannot be used to make telephone calls, but SMS messages only, and cannot be accessed by the usual means of law enforcement obtaining warrants to do so.’’

Ms Powell told Justice Peek police suspected many more individuals were involved in the importation of the drug.

“Your honour would appreciate that quantity of methamphetamine in that amount with that amount of purity with that value, there would be more than three persons involved in the importation of that into Australia,’’ she said.

“There is an investigation continuing which relates to not only the three accused but also those interstate and overseas and others locally.’’

It is understood federal agents are examining any links with a former Adelaide bikie who now lives in Singapore to those suspected of being involved in this importation.

In December last year, two couriers were stopped at Adelaide Airport carrying almost $550,000 in cash believed to belong to the man.

In refusing McInerney’s bail application, Justice Peek said his view was the material before him “ tends to establish that the applicant is part of a criminal group who has overseas criminal contacts’’.

McInerney, Nelson and Farrelly will next appear in Adelaide Magistrates Court in February.