Operation Ironside sting reveals organised crime gangs are secretly working together to make cash

Police have discovered an unusual tactic shared between supposedly rival bikie, mafia and other organised crime groups.

The cashed-up bosses of Australian organised crime gangs secretly work together while at the same time making their minions wage violence against each other to maintain the outward veneer of power and rivalry, police have learned.

Australian Federal Police investigators have uncovered unexpected levels of co-operation between rival bikie, mafia and other organised crime groups while trawling through the mountain of intelligence gathered during the landmark Operation Ironside sting.

AFP detective Superintendent Scott Raven told the Sunday Herald Sun law enforcement agencies had a clearer understanding of how criminal organisations worked than ever before, nearly a year after going public with the fact that they had duped thousands of criminals into communicating on the Anom app, which had in fact created by law enforcement agencies and planted in the criminal underworld.

Supt Raven said leaders of criminal organisations often lent their group’s technical expertise, for example in money laundering or large-scale drug importing, to their supposed rivals.

There is an unexpected level of co-operation between rival organised crime gangs.

He said the level of co-operation between groups who had traditionally been seen as underworld was among the most unexpected observations from Operation Ironside.

Australian investigators have spent more than 640,000 man hours on the sting, with much of that time now dedicated to ensuring the nearly 20 million messages sent on the Anom app could be put the best use.

“That intelligence picture is never fully formed,” Supt Raven said.

Supt Raven described the importance of the intelligence haul from Operation Ironside as “significant and growing”, as investigators made links between Anom messages and intelligence that had been gathered through more conventional methods.

The nearly 20 million messages sent on the Anom app are being reviewed by investigators. Picture: AFP

Police have also compiled intelligence dossiers on criminals who weren’t using Anom, because users were so comfortable using the app that they openly discussed their mates’ criminal activities, effectively betraying them to police.

Official figures show police had made 40 arrests based on intelligence from the sting — nine of them in Victoria — since December, when investigators started a “protracted offensive” targeting the “trusted insiders” or organised criminals, who often ran legitimate businesses, such as freight companies, but who helped organised criminal groups ply their trade.

Supt Raven warned there were yet more arrests expected as a result of Operation Ironside, and said criminals could “absolutely” expect a knock on the door at any time.

Figures released by the AFP under freedom of information showed law enforcement agencies seized nearly 1000 phones and dedicated encrypted devices in the busiest fortnight of raids last year.

Investigators have seized hundreds more devices since, the latest figures show.

Originally published as Operation Ironside sting reveals organised crime gangs are secretly working together to make cash