North Gosford man arrested in ANOM sting refused bail

A Central Coast man, 37, arrested over a “huge quantity of drugs” as part of an international sting involving the encrypted phone app AN0M has lost his bid for bail.

A Central Coast man arrested as part of Operation Ironside faced Gosford Local Court on Friday where he unsuccessfully applied for bail.

The 37-year-old from North Gosford, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested and charged on June 7 with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.

The court heard police alleged the man was using a phone with the encrypted underworld app AN0M to aid and abet the importation of about 500kg of methamphetamine between March 19 and May 24, 2021 in Sydney.

Police allege the man was using the ANOM app to import about 500kg of drugs into Sydney. (File photo)

The man’s barrister Philip Strickland said he was facing a possible life sentence.

“It’s a huge quantity of drugs,” he said.

However he said the case was “pure and simple” about the identity of the person who’s written messages were intercepted by police on the AN0M app.

Mr Strickland said no phone or other device with the AN0M app was found when police arrested the man and the only reference to his involvement was the messages were detected “in the vicinity” of his North Gosford home.

He said “in the vicinity” was not defined further in the police facts and that the courtroom could be in the vicinity of the man’s home.

The man appeared via video link at Gosford Local Court where his lawyer argued could be in the vicinity of the man’s North Gosford home. (AAP Image/Sue Graham)

“The prosecution doesn’t have his phone,” he said.

“The prosecution has to prove he was the person operating it.”

Mr Strickland said the intercepted messages were just “words” and there was nothing in the messages to indicate it was his client.

He told the court the man had recently become a father and his wife was the sole breadwinner, leaving him to be the primary carer of the child.

Mr Strickland said the man’s wife had suffered from PTSD and she had difficulty bonding with the child.

Criminal syndicates targeted under AFP-led Operation Ironside. Picture: AFP

“There’s strong evidence he needs to be at liberty,” Mr Strickland said.

He suggested a range of bail conditions including wearing an ankle bracelet and being effectively under house arrest, which he argued could mitigate any further danger to the community or a flight risk.

However Magistrate John McIntosh said in his view it was a strong prosecution case and that the man had served time in jail for a previous offence of supplying a prohibited drug.

He refused the man bail and adjourned him to Central Local Court on August 4 to join up with a number of his co-accuseds.