Inside day one of the AN0M busts, and the drama that unfolded in Adelaide’s busiest court
Three packed courtrooms, dozens of lawyers and endless bail applications created extraordinary scenes during the first day of Adelaide's AN0M sting hearings.
There’s a scene in almost every American crime drama where lawyers rush from courtroom to courtroom, bustling between journalists, frantic to defend those implicated in a huge sting.
Though SA’s courts have seen many things – from serial killers to doomsday cults to warring ninja clans – such movie-like scenes were an alien concept... until October 29, 2025.
The unprecedented AN0M sting transformed the third floor of the Adelaide Magistrates Court into a US film set, albeit with real drama and stakes far, far higher than box office success.
DAY ONE ANOM ARRESTS NAMED
DAY TWO IRONSIDE ARRESTS NAMED
Top-shelf barristers and solicitors jockeyed for position in three overcrowded, standing-room-only courtrooms, trying to get their clients’ cases called on for bail submissions.
Registry staff juggled the immense number of arrests, sifting them between each of the rooms to cope with the volume of applications.
Meanwhile, Director of Public Prosecutions Martin Hinton KC marshalled his troops on the balcony, beyond the hearing of defence counsel and journalists, planning their strategy.
It’s no secret, around Victoria Square, that Mr Hinton’s team is younger and less experienced than the DPP offices of the past, but their poise and performance shone through during the hearings.
Court sheriff’s officers – already the overworked, underpaid, unfairly unsung real heroes of the justice system – controlled the chaos with their characteristic calm and care.
Some defendants were on their second, third or, in one case, sixth AN0M arrest, meaning – bail or no bail – they will face court proceedings that will stretch well beyond 2027.
Their counsel, many of whom have lived through the interminable wait on the High Court’s validity ruling, quickly sought – and were granted – suppression orders on their identities.
And some were first-time arrests, like alleged cocaine-buyer Rhys Mundy.
His counsel argued Mr Mundy had known, since 2021, he may one day be arrested for alleged AN0M involvement and had not set a foot wrong since, making him a viable candidate for bail.
Mr Mundy was granted bail.
In courtroom 20, Magistrate Ben Sale took each case in turn, making his way through as much of the arrest list as was possible, even sitting long past the usual 5pm knock-off time.
A former defence lawyer, Mr Sale said the High Court’s ruling about admissibility was beyond question – but one plank of the prosecution case, in all matters, was not.
“There are thousands and thousands of (AN0M) messages in these ‘facts of charge’ documents you’ve handed up,” he told one prosecutor.
“How do you attribute them to this defendant?
“There’s no clear correlation and I’m surprised... it seems like there’s a lot of work that’s been put into this operation, it’s all been done in one day.
“But nobody seems to have thought it was a good idea to put material in the ‘facts of charge’ given to the court that shows how each message attributes to each defendant.
“This is an issue that’s been raised in the nine or 10 matters that have appeared before me so far... it might be something on which you wish to take instructions from the Director.”
What effect that has on Thursday’s expected avalanche of bail applications remains to be seen.
Was it the biggest day in SA legal history? That’s a hard call to make, given the sheer magnitude and fallout of some cases that have passed through the Magistrates Court.
In terms of volume, however, October 29 will stand for a long time as one of the most memorable caseloads with which the court has ever dealt.
