Francesco Nirta refused bail in Adelaide Magistrates Court because of the seriousness of his alleged drug offending

AN0M messages allegedly sent by an Adelaide man accused of sending hundreds of thousands of dollars of methamphetamine to Perth have been read to a court.

Methamphetamine sent from South Australia was wrapped and marketed as Gotham City Coffee when it was seized in Western Australia during Operation Ironside, a court has heard.

One of the men alleged to have been the ringleader behind the drug shipment – Francesco Nirta, 52 – was denied bail by the Adelaide Magistrates on Thursday because of the seriousness of the alleged offending.

Mr Nirta is charged along with Francesco Romeo, 50, and another co-accused – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – with trafficking a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.

Michael Abbott QC, for Mr Nirta, argued his client had the presumption of innocence and was unlikely to face a trial before late 2023.

He asked for Mr Nirta to be released on strict home-detention bail with several family members offering cash sureties or guarantees.

Prosecutors told Magistrate John Wells that an encrypted AN0M phone allegedly had been found in the bedroom of Mr Nirta’s house when it was raided on June 7.

They alleged there were 12,000 sent messages and 19,000 received messages linked to the account on that phone.

Mr Wells heard that Mr Nirta allegedly could be linked to the phone through GPS data, which showed the device was near his house at the same time a message was sent saying: “I just got home.”

$1.8 million cash seized during Operation Ironside South Australian arrests. Picture: Brenton Edwards

The court heard allegations that Mr Nirta had messaged Mr Romeo and advised him to ensure all forensic evidence was removed from packages of methamphetamine.

“We got to be a bit more thorough,” prosecutors allege the message said.

“You need to get a big bucket of water and bleach to wash any traces off.”

Prosecutors alleged the messages showed Mr Nirta was senior to Mr Romeo in the hierarchy of the group.

Mr Nirta is alleged to have been involved in the shipment of 10kg of methamphetamine to Perth.

The court heard the alleged plan had been for the shipment to be split in Perth and the two portions marked with a different letter.

Prosecutors alleged that “Nirta’s guy” would then pick up his shipment of the drugs and one of the other co-accused’s “guy” would then pick up the other half.

When police arrested two men in Perth, they found the drugs marked with letters as indicated in the messages.

The bricks of methamphetamine were wrapped in labels marked Gotham City Coffee, which were in turn encased in bubble wrap.

One of the messages allegedly sent by Mr Nirta in the days after the drugs were seized read: “I don’t give a f..k about losing the gear, I just hope they don’t get him.”

Prosecutors told the court they were alleging Mr Nirta was talking about a co-accused whose name has since been suppressed.

Mr Wells refused to grant Mr Nirta bail, citing the seriousness of the alleged offending as well as the risk of reoffending or interfering with the investigation.

Mr Nirta will next appear in court next year.