International organised crime fugitive was chief of alleged multimillion-dollar SA drug syndicate, court told

An international fugitive charged in the US was allegedly at the helm of an SA drug syndicate that was laundering as much as $8.2m at a time, prosecutors say.

A shadowy international fugitive charged by US authorities as part of Operation Ironside was allegedly at the helm of a multimillion-dollar drug syndicate operating out of Adelaide’s north, a court has heard.

Dalibor Drazetic, 48, Andrew Benz, 46, Jonathon Kingston-Mayne, 53, and Jayson Adams, 50, have all been charged with various drug and money laundering offences stemming from their alleged use of the AN0M app.

In the Adelaide Magistrates Court last week, Mr Drazetic applied to have his home-detention bail condition removed so he could seek employment and spend more time with his children.

Scott Henchliffe QC, for Mr Drazetic, said his client was facing financial pressures because the Corrections Department would not allow him to work with anyone who was a friend or family member.

Opposing the relaxing of bail, a prosecutor told Magistrate John Wells a fifth member of the alleged syndicate remained on the run.

“There is a fifth accused who we would describe as the syndicate leader,” he said.

“That is an individual who has been charged in the United States and is alleged to be a quite senior organised crime figure.

“That person is very close to Mr Drazetic and was in fact his primary contact over AN0M.”

The prosecutor said 1500 messages between the two men had been intercepted by police and they made reference to other encrypted messaging platforms – such as Cipher phones.

“From April 6 to resolution day on June 6, the sole fixation of the messages was the extent of police knowledge following the seizure of 50kg of methamphetamine, which was in a truck heading for WA,” he said.

Ironside accused Andrew Benz outside Adelaide Magistrates Court. Picture: David Mariuz

Jonathon Kingston-Mayne was arrested and charged as part of Operation Ironside. Picture: Supplied

The prosecutor said an AN0M-enabled phone was found in a safe at Mr Drazetic’s home when it was raided by police.

Court documents released to The Advertiser show the extent of the allegations members of the syndicate are facing.

Mr Drazetic is facing charges of trafficking commercial quantities of cocaine and large commercial quantities of cannabis, as well as money laundering.

Across the 45 charges related to the case, the syndicate is alleged to have laundered $8.2m over an eight-month period.

Jayson Adams was arrested as part of Operation Ironside and charged with drug trafficking and money laundering offences. Picture: Facebook

Ironside accused Dalibor Drazetic is seen leaving Adelaide Magistrates Court. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Mr Benz is accused of laundering $5.28m between February 16 and 25 at Angle Vale last year – the largest single charge of money laundering as part of Operation Ironside.

Mr Adams is charged with trafficking large commercial amounts of cannabis and laundering more than $500,000, while Mr Kingston-Mayne is charged with laundering $69,300.

Mr Wells refused the application to remove Mr Drazetic’s home-detention bail conditions.

However, he did vary the bail to allow Mr Drazetic to be able to spend more time outside walking his dog. He will next appear in court again in August.

Originally published as International organised crime fugitive was chief of alleged multimillion-dollar SA drug syndicate, court told