Clarke Rogers: Kogarah man on commercial drug importation charges is granted bail

Allegations of an inside job to help import methamphetamine into Australia has been revealed as police uncovered ANOM app messages from a number of people, a court has heard.

A man allegedly embroiled in an inside job to import a huge amount of methamphetamine into Sydney through Port Botany has faced court.

Clarke Rogers, 36, of Kogarah, was described as a kind-of mediator for an alleged drug ring that attempted to use workers inside the Port Botany container examination facility to get drugs through.

Yet, the case against him was “circumstantial” and ”not strong”, a Central Court magistrate said, upon granting him bail on Thursday.

The court heard police uncovered ANOM app messages from a number of people involved in a criminal group to import prohibited drugs into Australia.

A view of the containers at the Port Botany Docks in Sydney Australia. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Among these was Ahmad Nazzal, 39, of Banksia, and an unknown person police believe was higher-up in the criminal hierarchy, the court heard.

Magistrate Clare Farnan said there was a very strong prosecution case that Mr Nazzal and the higher-up were attempting to import prohibited drugs into Australia “by bypassing any security applied to them at the ports”.

To do this, they allegedly used people working at the container examination facility at Port Botany.

This included facility employee Kire Stefanovski, 51, of Bexley, who allegedly kept an eye on which particular containers authorities had suspicions about, as well as the numbers of these containers, and communicated it to members of the criminal group through Mr Rogers.

In this way, it is alleged Mr Rogers was a “go-between person” in the importation scheme, the court heard.

The ANoM app. Picture: Olivier MORIN / AFP

Mr Rogers did not use the ANOM app, but is alleged to have used a Cipher phone to communicate with Mr Stefanovski, the existence of which is among the strongest evidence against him, Magistrate Farnan said.

There is also said to be evidence Mr Rogers communicated with Mr Nazzal and the unknown higher-up at one time and a suggestion he drove past the Port Botany facility at various times during the offending period.

Mr Rogers did not work at the container examination facility but had worked there in the past, the court heard.

He is charged with the importation of a “very large quantity” or methylamphetamine located by authorities in a shipping container on June 4, and intending to use $10,000 or less as an instrument of crime.

Mr Nazzal and Mr Stefanovski face the same charges.

The court heard the police facts spanned some 108 pages, and that the evidence against Mr Rogers was often hard to come by.

“On my first reading of the statement of facts I did have some difficulty understanding the link between the evidence against Rogers and all of the other quite overwhelming evidence against Nazzal and other unknown persons,” Magistrate Farnan said.

Port Botany Docks. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

She said there were conversations between Mr Stefanovski and Mr Rogers, and some listening device material which was alleged to be about the payment of money for his services, although it was not entirely clear.

The listening devices also allegedly caught Mr Rogers whispering some numbers which were the same as those on the shipping containers of interest to the Australian Federal Police.

Magistrate Farnan granted Mr Rogers bail.

He will return to court on October 27.