Eric Grunnet: Darling Point man denied bail over AN0M drug sting

The AFP has accused a Sydney Airport worker of being a middle man in an operation that allegedly imported 156kg of pseudoephedrine from India.

A Qantas baggage handler who allegedly tipped off major drug players about police interest in their incoming packages has been denied bail for his role in a multimillion plot.

Eric Martin Grunnet, 51, will remain behind bars after a Downing Centre Local Court magistrate on Friday ordered he could not be safely monitored in the community.

Grunnet has been charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and faces a potential life sentence in jail if convicted.

The Darling Point man was allegedly snared in the AFP’s Operation Ironside sting, which saw drug dealers, murderers and a swath of the criminal underworld duped into using an encrypted app called AN0M.

The AN0M app as it appears on the screen of a smartphone.

However, the app was a Trojan horse and law enforcement from Australia, America and others across the world were able to listen in on every single message.

The AFP accuses Grunnet of being a middle man in an operation that allegedly saw 156kg of the meth precursor drug pseudoephedrine imported from India.

The AFP and Australian Border Force have previously said the investigation had been launched into an airline freight employee “suspected of using his role to advise multiple criminal syndicates about law enforcement interest” in consignments.

AN0M’s Twitter account, created in 2019, before it was revealed as a police trojan horse used to infiltrate the underworld.

Grunnet appeared in court on Friday where his lawyer Michelle Karim sought his bail which was eventually denied by Magistrate Fiona McCarron.

Police allege the drugs were located in fabric rolls from India via air cargo seized by the AFP last October.

They further allege Grunnet worked with East Hills man Tishan David, 36, to tip off criminal syndicates.

David is facing similar charges and a police raid of his home allegedly saw $15,000 in cash seized.

Grunnet’s case will return to Central Local Court later this year.