More than $70k in designer sneakers seized in AN0M app raid

A Rose Bay car dealer has been accused of using the proceeds of drug crime to fund his collection of sneakers estimated to be valued at an eye-watering $70,000.

Nicholas Vostanis has a shoe ­collection that would put Sex and the City character Carrie Bradshaw to shame.

But the Rose Bay 33-year-old claims he is just an avid collector — not a drug dealer who spent his ill-­gotten gains on 230 pairs of designer sneakers.

That is the allegation police have made after arresting Vostanis on Thursday in connection with the ­global organised crime crackdown, Operation Ironside.

Part of the $70,000 shoe collection of Nicholas Vostanis, which police allege was paid for with ill-gotten gains from drug dealing. Picture: NSW Police

Vostanis is accused of using the encrypted messaging app AN0M to organise the commercial supply of MDMA, cocaine and methamphetamine in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

When the Criminal Groups Squad raided his Dover Rd apartment on Thursday morning they found shelves neatly lined with rows of colourful designer sneakers.

Police allege there were 230 pairs, from Nike to Adidas and Louis Vuitton, with a collective value of approximately $70,000.

Vostanis is charged with using the proceeds of crime to fund the impressive shoe collection.

“There is nothing in the (police facts) at all to suggest they are proceeds of crime,” his lawyer Kiki Kyriakou told Waverley Local Court on Friday.

“He and his brother are avid collectors of shoes, which is not unusual.”

Shoe aficionado Nicholas Vostanis.

More of the 230-pair shoe collection.

The FBI and AFP secretly infiltrated the encrypted messaging app AN0M two years ago and gathered evidence about large-scale drug distribution and organised crime.

Police allege Vostanis operated under the handle “Gremlin” and communicated with other AN0M targets — Ashley Rake, of Vaucluse, and Jarrod Patrick Gallagher, of Randwick — between April and May this year.

However, Waverley Local Court heard police relied on GPS co-ordinates from the AN0M device to link Vostanis to places he frequented — like his street and his old address in Bellevue Hill.

The court also heard an alternative hypothesis was that Vostanis’ mate, Alex Macris, may have been using the encrypted app instead.

Macris has not been charged in connection to the operation. He is the younger brother of slain crime figure John Macris and had previously used Vostanis’ details to set up an electricity account, the court heard, and the pair were close associates.

Macris and Vostanis also shared Greek heritage. This was relevant, the court heard, because some of the messages sent under the Gremlin handle included Greek phrases.

Police did not find an encrypted device at Vostanis’ house.

Police prosecutor Matthew Wade said it was no coincidence that the GPS locations from the AN0M device were known to Vostanis. “The most recent GPS is near the building where this defendant lives,” he told the court.

Magistrate Ross Hudson found the prosecution case was not overwhelming and an “alternative person” may have been using the AN0M device.

Vostanis was granted bail with a $1m surety and strict conditions.