Dale Williams sentenced to maximum 16 years jail over ANOM meth haul
A major drug player in the ANOM “sting of the century” will spend at least a decade behind bars after he was snared by police who identified him by his thumb.
Police & Courts
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A key player in the global ANOM sting who attempted to import almost 150kg of meth will spend at least a decade behind bars after detectives identified the dealer from a photo of his thumb.
Dale Williams, 40, was sentenced to a maximum 16 years’ imprisonment on Friday after pleading guilty to attempting to possess the massive haul of drugs.
Williams, considered one of the biggest scalps in Operation Ironside’s “sting of the century”, was nabbed after federal police seized the illicit drugs – hidden in furniture containers shipped from Malaysia — and switched it for rock salt in 2020.
The Patterson Lakes man and his accomplices had been using the encrypted messaging app, ANOM, to conduct their exploits, unaware federal police were covertly reading every message they exchanged.
Williams was later identified by authorities in photos he sent to another drug trafficker which captured images of his thumb with “visible ridge characteristics that match an arrest print”.
The drug baron is one of the first offenders nabbed in the major sting to be sentenced, and faced life behind bars for his “sophisticated” enterprise.
But County Court Judge Michael Cahill said Williams’ early guilty plea had awarded him an “exceptional sentencing discount”.
Judge Cahill said he hoped the sentence reduction would entice dozens of other Victorians netted in the major ANOM sting to admit their guilt.
“It has a high utilitarian value for the avoidance of a long and complex trial,” he said.
Police began dismantling Williams’ attempted import in June 2020 when officers seized a container shipped from Malaysia to the Port of Melbourne, labelled as “Sofa Sets Dinning (sic) Tables Cabinet and Wardrobes”.
Inside were 18 boxes of “Guan Yin Wang brand tea” – later identified as 289kg of meth – which was replaced for rock salt by AFP officers.
Williams instructed his driver to take half of the drugs to a factory, where the pair discovered the meth had been swapped for salt.
The package was then sent back via unsuspecting logistics company MNB before Williams again used ANOM to message a drug trafficker about the failed importation.
He has been behind bars since his arrest in June 2021 when his thumbprint was matched to the photo sent on the encrypted app.
Williams was ordered to serve a non-parole period of 10.5 years prison.
His sentencing comes as dozens of people arrested through Operation Ironside challenge the legality of the sting in the Magistrate’s Court.
More than 300 people in Australia have reportedly been arrested after criminal activity was detected on ANOM, which has been described as a “Trojan horse”.
Judge Cahill took into account Williams’ remorse, periods of lockdown during pre-sentence detention, childhood hardship and family support.
Williams’ had previously been convicted and served time for intentionally causing injury, robbery and attempted armed robbery.
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