Police swoop on syndicate in massive Melbourne cocaine bust

Five men have been arrested and $40m of cocaine seized after police smashed a global syndicate via encrypted messages on the AN0M app.

Police have smashed an international organised crime syndicate after seizing $40m worth of cocaine in Melbourne.

Australian Federal Police officers arrested five men as part of Operation Ironside after discovering the huge shipment was on its way to Melbourne from Hong Kong via Sydney.

The syndicate, operating out of Hong Kong and Turkey, was using encrypted communications to organise the shipment via its Australian-based leader in Sydney.

Operation Ironside has ­resulted in charges for more than 200 organised crime figures after the AFP used technology that allowed it to see encrypted messages sent on the app ANOM in real time.

Acting on intelligence from the app and with help from Australian Border Force officers, AFP investigators moved quickly to seize the 160kg of cocaine, hidden inside a shipment of air filters that arrived in Melbourne on May 31.

Police also found $500,000 concealed in the walls and roof of a Melbourne property, along with weapons and precursor drugs.

Members of a crime syndicate were arrested in connection to the cocaine shipment.

Crime syndicate members unpack a consignment crate.

Investigators say Edward Lee, 42, a suspected crime boss from the Sydney suburb of Leichhardt, is the alleged ringleader of the syndicate.

Jaiden Russell, 26, of Taylors Hill, Youssef Alateyah, 28, of St Kilda, and Edward Cannobbio, 31, of Keilor East, have been charged with attempting to take possession of the ­cocaine to distribute.

The trio have been remanded in custody until September.

Chris Veljanovski, 44, of Taylors Hill, has been charged with dealing in the proceeds of crime.

Multiple police raids were carried out from June 4-6 in Taylors Hill, Keilor Park, Keilor East, Dandenong, Southbank, Point Cook and Laverton North.

The raids also unearthed an alleged cannabis grow house containing about 30 plants at a property in Melbourne’s northwest. During another search in Southbank, a money counting machine and imitation rifle were seized.

On June 17, AFP detectives raided a commercial property in Braybrook, seizing 30 containers of liquid containing what police believe to be a whopping 600 litres of pseudoephedrine – a chemical used to make methamphetamine.

The latest Operation Ironside arrests and seizures have inflicted yet another blow to organised crime in the AFP-led global sting.

A police image of the cocaine haul, which was tucked inside a shipment of air filters. Picture: Australian Federal Police

Police images of the cocaine seized in the Melbourne bust. Picture: Australian Federal Police

AFP Assistant Commissioner Southern Command Bruce Giles said the intelligence had stopped harmful ­illicit drugs from being sold in Victoria.

“This historic moment should serve as the strongest warning to criminals yet – we will continue to be relentless in our pursuit to target and disrupt your illicit operations and to bring you to justice,” he said.

ABF Commander James Watson said: “These arrests are a timely reminder that criminals continue to operate, regardless of whether there is a pandemic, or a lockdown. The impact of this ­shipment of cocaine hitting the streets would have been ­devastating.”

Victoria Police Organised Crime Division Detective Superintendent Craig Darlow said the ongoing probe had disrupted organised crime by preventing guns and drugs from entering the community.

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