The Snitch: Alleged AN0M crims to argue phone taps inadmissable

A group of more than 50 people charged as a result of the operation have now banded together to challenge the legality of the evidence collected on their phones, reveals the Snitch.

The Snitch: BFL boss Farhad Qaumi is set for a High Court showdown.

We are one step closer to finding out if the so-called “Sting of the Century” will hold up in court.

We are one step closer to finding out if the so-called “Sting of the Century” will hold up in court.

The “AN0M 50” appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday, which was told the evidence for the legal challenge to the operation that put a serious dent in the world’s drug trade is starting to roll in.

Last year, it was revealed that AN0M phones, which were thought to be encrypted and beyond the reach of police monitoring, were actually part of a police sting.
The phones and the platform they operated on had been set up by police who were watching every message sent on the phones.

A group of more than 50 of those charged as a result of the operation have now banded together to challenge the legality of the evidence collected on the phones.

At the heart of their case is an argument that the warrants that were signed off to grant permission to collect the evidence from the AN0M phones don’t actually cover the technology used on phones and the platform that collected the messages.
And to establish this, experts need to unpick exactly how the police side of AN0M worked.

The end goal the accused drug smugglers and dealers are working towards is to have the evidence collected from the phones ruled to be inadmissable as evidence.

MURDEROUS GANGSTER TO SEEK RETRIAL IN HIGH COURT

Feared Brothers For Life gang leader Farhad Qaumi is taking his battle for freedom to the High Court.

Qaumi was jailed for 60 years in 2017 over a long list of violent crimes, which included the murder of Sydney standover man and construction identity Joe Antoun.

Antoun was shot dead at his front door in 2013 by an assassin Qaumi sent after he accepted a contract to commit the murder from gangster Les Elias, the BFL boss’s Supreme Court trial was told. Qaumi appealed the sentence in 2020 and the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal knocked it down to 58 years.

Now Snitch can reveal Qaumi will attempt to have the entire sentence overturned in the High Court. The convicted murderer will ask the court to order a retrial.

Qaumi has hired a high-powered legal team consisting of barristers Bret Walker SC, Peter Lange and solicitor Simon Joyner.

Brothers For Life leader Farhad Qaumi.

Simon Joyner, one of his lawyers. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

The assassin who killed Antoun rolled over to become a Crown witness who gave evidence against Antoun at the trial.

Snitch understands the appeal points will be based on evidence that the trial judge accepted from this witness and how it was interpreted. Qaumi is set to argue that the interpretation was wrong.

QUESTIONS IN QUEENSLAND

The tip coming from sections of NSW Police in relation to the murders of two Queensland police officers is that the duty of care provided to the officers will be heavily scrutinised. Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow were shot dead on the property by Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train on Monday. Two other constables were shot at and escaped.

Constable Rachel McCrow was killed in the line of duty.

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll during a minute’s silence for the fallen officers. Picture: Patrick Hamilton/AFP

NSW-based officers told us this week questions should be raised about how much was known about the danger posed by the Trains and why the decision was made to send in four junior officers who walked into a deadly ambush.

“It was known that Gareth had posted on public forums conspiratorial and paranoid views,” one officer told us. “It was also known that he hated the cops and one or all of them had or had access to high-power guns … So why let four junior officers walk into that?”

GUESS WHO

A significant player on the Sydney drug scene has been sentenced to a lengthy jail term outside of NSW. We can’t tell you who, where or what they got sentenced for because of a non-publication order that has been put on the case. But they are a big name and have significant underworld connections.