$1.5m bust: Operation Ironside exposes suspected Rebels bikie gang drug den in South Australia

Two men linked to a $1.5m drug operation – run out of a suspected SA Rebels bikie gang safe house and exposed by the AN0M app – have pleaded guilty.

Two men linked to a $1.5m drug operation being run out of a suspected Rebels bikie gang safe house have pleaded guilty, as Operation Ironside continues to cut a swathe through Australia’s criminal underworld.

Jason Howett-Elliott, 34, and Robert Leigh Marshall, 38, pleaded guilty to trafficking in 320kg of cannabis found in a suburban Adelaide property in February.

The court heard police who raided the house found pillow-sized bags of dried cannabis, and multiple heat-sealing machines.

The guilty pleas in the Adelaide Magistrates Court earlier this month are the latest in a string of Operation Ironside matters in which defendants have pleaded guilty.

More than $1.5m worth of cannabis and cash seized from the alleged Rebels bikie gang safe house in suburban Adelaide. Picture: AFP

The operation was built around the use of a secret police Trojan horse encrypted app, known as AN0M, which was secretly planted into the underworld by the FBI and Australian Federal Police.

Four other men arrested as part of the suspected Rebels safe house raid have yet to enter pleas.

During an earlier hearing, Commonwealth prosecutors told the magistrates court investigators were trawling through thousands of AN0M messages as well as “outstanding physical forensic work”.

“Police will allege all but one of the accused were using the encrypted AN0M app,” he said,

Images released by the Australian Federal Police at the time show large bags of dried cannabis in the process of being vacuum-sealed.

At the time, AFP Detective Superintendent Gavin Stone said the cannabis seized could have netted approximately $1.55 million in illicit profits.

Bags of cannabis stacked up on lounges inside the house. Picture: AFP

Police allege the property was being used as a processing facility to package dried cannabis for distribution. Picture: AFP

“This is a significant seizure and we are pleased to prevent so much of this illicit drug from reaching the South Australian community,” he said.

“We will allege that the Rebels OMCG was profiting from this illicit operation.”

Howett-Elliott and Marshall will appear in the District Court for sentencing submissions in December.

Their admissions of guilt are the latest in a line of successful Ironside cases, including the jailing of John Steven Stevenson for trafficking 10kg of methamphetamine from NSW to SA.

He was arrested at the border in Yamba in possession of millions of dollars’ worth of drugs and was one of the first Ironside players to plead guilty.

In exchange for his early guilty plea, Stevenson received a prison sentence of four years and six months.

The court heard police who raided the house found pillow-sized bags of dried cannabis, and multiple heat-sealing machines. Picture: AFP

A separate Ironside player will be sentenced in the coming weeks after admitting to having a loaded handgun on his passenger side seat when he was arrested.

In separate matters, three other men in South Australia have admitted guilt after being swept up by Operation Ironside.

Stuart Duncan Farquhar, 30, of Mt Barker, pleaded guilty to trafficking a large commercial quantity of methamphetamine and a commercial quantity of heroin.

George Awkar, 55, from New Port, pleaded guilty to trafficking a controlled drug and laundering more than $85,500 in cash.

Tyler Hernandez Brook, 29, of Hackham, pleaded guilty to cultivating a commercial quantity of a controlled drug, possessing prescribed equipment and diverting electricity.

Originally published as $1.5m bust: Operation Ironside exposes suspected Rebels bikie gang drug den in South Australia