Silvio Molinara and Rocco Portolesi granted bail for alleged involvement in cocaine importation
Two men arrested in Operation Ironside for their alleged links to a multimillion-dollar cocaine importation ring have been granted bail.
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Two men allegedly linked to a multimillion-dollar South Australian cocaine importation ring as part of the Ironside arrests have been granted bail.
Silvio Molinara, 54, and Rocco Portolesi, 40, appeared by video link in Adelaide Magistrates Court from custody on Monday, charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of drugs.
Molinara and Portolesi were arrested as part of Operation Ironside, which resulted in the arrest of almost 100 South Australians following statewide raids.
Australian Border Force officers pounced on a wooden crate that arrived at Adelaide Airport in August and allegedly discovered almost 18kg of cocaine, worth $20m was hidden inside two welding machines.
In messages outlined in Australian Federal Police documents filed in court and obtained by The Weekend Australian, intercepted messages and other evidence allegedly link the welders and their illicit cargo to Portolesi, Molinara, Salvatore Lupoi, 45, Domenico Catanzariti, 29, Tereapii Pokoina, 47, and Francesco Nirta, 51.
Police allege the messages are from AN0M encrypted phones, which were key to the arrests of 800 people worldwide, after authorities lured crime networks into using a messaging app controlled by the FBI and monitored by the AFP.
Pokoina, of Hyde Park, allegedly organised the consignment and arranged for it to be delivered to his former workplace without the knowledge of the business owners.
AFP alleges that Molinara heads the Australian office of commodities trading firm Standard & Partners from Stirling while Portolesi is a businessman from Henley Beach.
In the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday, Magistrate John Wells granted both men bail, with a condition not to speak to their co-accused, including each other.
“If either of you disobey any of those conditions it is inevitable that you will return to custody,” he said.
“Breach any of the conditions and you will stay in jail for a long time.”
Their charges were adjourned until next month.
The court also heard George Katsambas, 48, who is charged with commercial drug trafficking as part of the Ironside arrests, would be applying for bail next month.
A prosecutor told the court they would be opposed to all forms of bail.
Originally published as Silvio Molinara and Rocco Portolesi granted bail for alleged involvement in cocaine importation
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