Australian Federal Police raid Zirilli family property as part of Operation Ironside

Police have swarmed a property in relation to an alleged plot to import 1.2 tonnes of cocaine to Australia from Ecuador.

A clan with mafia links and with connections to Victoria has been raided by federal police as part of its crackdown on suspected cocaine trafficking and the billions of dollars being laundered in Australia.

More than 50 AFP officers descended on the NSW town of Griffith in southern NSW last month as part of Operation Ironside, raiding the property of the Zirilli family – one of whom is in jail in Victoria.

The Herald Sun was told police swarmed the sprawling regional property during an early morning raid on May 26 searching for “pellets’’ of cash.

The AFP confirmed its officers executed a search warrant on a Griffith property in relation to an alleged plot to import 1.2 tonnes of cocaine to Australia from Ecuador.

More than 50 Australian Federal Police officers descended on the NSW town of Griffith in southern NSW last month as part of Operation Ironside. Picture: Tom Huntley

“A 36-year-old Griffith, NSW man has been issued a court attendance notice and is expected to face court later this month,’’ an AFP statement said.

“AFP officers seized a number of items and subsequently issued the court attendance notice.’’

It is understood the AFP will allege it has intelligence gained through its ANoM sting on the alleged plot to smuggle a shipment of cocaine into Australia.

Senior Calabrian mafia figure Saverio Zirilli – an inmate at a Victorian jail – is serving a 26-year sentence for his role in the infamous “Tomato Tins’’ ecstasy importation.

The AFP seized 15 million ecstasy pills stashed in tomato tins.

Zirilli has not been linked to the alleged cocaine smuggling operation.

The AFP this month announced it was targeting the Calabrian mafia after gaining unprecedented intelligence via its ANoM sting.

Through ANoM – an encrypted app installed on a device sold to the underworld – the AFP and FBI gained an unprecedented insight into the scale of illicit drug imports organised or facilitated through the Calabrian mafia, the profits being made and how frequently they “worked’’ with outlaw motorcycle gangs.

Operation Ironside – launched a year ago – has sent a shudder through crime gangs worldwide suspected to be importing huge quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine into the nation.

It has also given law enforcement intelligence on how the Calabrian mafia has control of outlaw bikie gangs distributing its illicit product.

The money generated from illicit drug dealing is then pushed through legitimate companies or often sent offshore.

The AFP’s intelligence suggests there are 51 Italian organised crime clans in Australia.

Among those clans, the AFP has identified 14 ‘Ndrangheta clans involving thousands of members.

The AFP say these clans are tied by blood lines and there is intelligence that some members are taking orders from Calabrian-based mob bosses.

Historically, the existence of the mafia is denied by members.

Interestingly, intelligence has revealed secretive mafia members still take part in rituals and some attend religious festivals in Italy annually.

Law enforcement say the Calabrian mafia has been able to operate in Australia with impunity for decades because of its code of silence, known as “omerta’’.

Over decades several informers have given an overview of the mafia’s operations across the nation but it has historically been overlooked by law enforcement as a serious threat or considered too hard to crack.

Several reports, including an early 2000s “highly protected’’ National Crime Authority document seen by the Sunday Herald Sun, has delved into its penetration in Australia.

It’s conclusions were not definitive as to whether a sophisticated Calabrian mafia operated domestically and cast doubt orders were taken from the ‘’old country’’.