How thumb photo identified key drug importer in ANOM sting

A key player busted in the ANOM sting is facing jail after pleading guilty to attempting to possess almost 150kg of meth when police identified him from a shot of his thumb.

One of the biggest scalps from the ANOM sting of the century is set to be jailed after police identified the mass drug importer from a photo of his thumb.

Dale David Williams, 40, will be sentenced this week after pleading guilty to attempting to possess almost 150kg of meth.

Police seized the drugs and switched them for rock salt in June 2020 after identifying the mass haul through encrypted communications platform ANOM, which crooks believed was a secret weapon to commit crime, but was actually a plant by cops who were reading every message.

The Patterson Lakes man was identified after he sent photos to a drug trafficker via ANOM, which captured his thumb with “visible ridge characteristics that match an arrest print”.

Described by his own lawyer as a “principal key player”, Williams also admitted to importing meth from Malaysia, trafficking meth and cocaine and attempting to manufacture meth in uncharged offending.

Drugs seized as part of Operation Tiridates. Picture: Australian Federal Police

It was during this attempt to make his own gear that police say Williams sent photos from username “ac1fc4 Skip11” to a high level drug trafficker, which captured his thumb.

“Does this look like a f--k-up to you?” he asked, alongside an image of a beaker with brown liquid and a white suspension.

Williams had faced life behind bars but is expected to get less than 18 years after a plea deal that prosecutors hope could lead to a domino effect of other ANOM criminals admitting guilt.

It comes after police seized a container from Malaysia to the Port of Melbourne in June 2020, labelled as “Sofa Sets Dinning (sic) Tables Cabinet and Wardrobes”.

Drugs packed inside tea seized by AFP police in Operation Tiridates. Picture: Australian Federal Police

But it also held 18 boxes of “Guan Yin Wang brand tea” — actually 289kg of meth — that AFP officers replaced for rock salt.

In trying to possess half of the “tea”, Williams had his “driver” take it to a Cheltenham factory that claimed to operate as a business called “Prestigious Stone”, court documents state.

Upon discovering the tea’s true contents, the gear was sent back via unsuspecting logistics company MNB, which was told the boxes “were not according to the customer’s specification”.

Williams later used ANOM to text a drug trafficker about the “disaster” importation.

Dale David Williams will be sentenced this week after pleading guilty to attempting to possess almost 150kg of meth. Picture: Australian Federal Police

“F--- i’m cursing,” Williams wrote, according to a police summary.

“Driver was a good friend of mine. He just got knocked back on supreme (court) bail but he knew the risks and we have to take the good with the bad so have to push on. Look after him the family make jail as easy as possible for him and make sure we’re more careful in the future.”

Williams was arrested in June 2021 after being identified through his thumbprint.

His plea comes as dozens of people arrested through Operation Ironside remain in the Magistrates’ Court amid admissibility arguments over ANOM evidence.

These challenges are expected to take years to finalise at “extreme” cost, and end up in the High Court.

Williams’ high profile barrister Ruth Shann SC told the court his plea was of “significant utilitarian benefit” because it would “send a signal to the many dozens of others facing ANOM charges that very significant discounts will be given for ANOM pleas”.

Judge Michael Cahill will hand down his sentence in the County Court on Friday.