Two Ironside accused and alleged ‘organised crime’ figures apply to call architects of the AN0M app in legal challenge

The architects of the sting of the century may give evidence in court as men accused of conspiring to import a tonne of cocaine into Australia launch a legal challenge.

The architects of the sting of the century could be called to give evidence as two men accused of being senior organised crime figures fight charges including attempting to import more than a tonne of cocaine.

In the sights of the two men’s lawyer are senior AFP officers and a civilian contractor known only as CIN325, the Australian conduit to the US programmer who built the encrypted AN0M app that led to hundreds of arrests around the country.

Earlier this month, lawyers for both men, whose names are suppressed as they face multiple charges, indicated they would be moving to call the witnesses as part of an application to have the charges overturned.

Travis Moran, who represents one of the men accused of multiple drug trafficking charges has launched an action to have four witnesses called.

Michael Abbott KC, who represents several Operation Ironside accused – including a man in his 30s accused of distributing the AN0M app and conspiring to import a tonne of cocaine – asked for his clients case to be adjourned to March to join up with a challenge to the entire operation.

Photos of drugs sent over the encrypted AN0M app.

Among the witnesses sought to be interviewed are the AFP officer who was one of the masterminds behind the operation as well as a technical expert with an understanding of the functioning of the AN0M app itself.

However, Mr Moran also wants to call CIN325 – which stands for civilian identification number – a civilian officer employed by the AFP to run the operation.

The identity of the programming and technical expert remains closely guarded by the AFP, including the city in which they reside.

Lawyers for the two men are expected to challenge the legal basis for the operation and the functioning of the AN0M app itself.

However, their arguments are waiting on the outcome of a test case currently running in the Supreme Court in which the legality of the app is being examined.

It is widely expected that the outcome of the test case will be appealed to the South Australian Court of Appeal and then to the High Court.

The outcome of the test case affects hundreds of prosecutions in SA but has a ripple effect to the similar charges across the country.

The test case relates only to charges laid under state legislation. A second test case, which will target federal charges, is expected to be run out of the eastern states with nation-leading barrister Bret Walker SC at the helm.

A conglomerate of accused drug dealers and smugglers subject to federal charges have pooled their resources to fund the challenge.

A decision in the SA test case is expected before April.

Originally published as Two Ironside accused and alleged ‘organised crime’ figures apply to call architects of the AN0M app in legal challenge