Ayik, 42, is said to have unwittingly given police direct access to the criminal underworld by encouraging his colleagues to use the app. The Comancheros are regarded as one of the most violent motorcycle gangs in Australia. New Zealand Customs staff, Armed Offenders Squad members, Asset Recovery Unit and Police Dog Section staff assisted police with the searches. The president of the Comancheros and another member have pleaded guilty to part of their alleged involvement in a large scale money laundering and drug operation. LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) Dozens of people were arrested, and more than 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine and nearly $16 million was seized in the Southern California area amid a nationwide operation . Get the news you want delivered straight to your inbox so you never miss a headline. This is a long way from over.'. Police said the group had links to the Comancheros bikie gang. Dozens of people have been arrested after a police massive operation targeting alleged drug supply by outlaw bikie gangs. Large-scale operations of this nature create enormous disruption and paranoia within organised crime groups because it breaks down their communication channels that they use to evade law enforcement detection.". Members of the Rebels gang have been arrested after police searched 24 properties on Wednesday. They were unaware it was run by FBI agents and the Australian Federal Police who could read their every word. ANoM's website, which was only deleted about 10am on Tuesday, made the technology sound bulletproof. Fronting media in Auckland, Williams said the FBI had recently dismantled several encrypted platforms which criminals used to communicate, including Canadian-based Phantom Secure in 2018 and Sky Global earlier this year. Almost $4 million in assets was seized in the raids, including luxury cars and property. If you value facts and being well-informed, please consider supporting Stuff. "We are an area that is very rich at present - a great area for organised crime to come and focus on," Supt Migro said. They had taken 15 vacuum-sealed bags filled with 30,000 MDMA tablets and more than 20 plastic bags containing almost 22 kilograms of methylamphetamine off the streets and, although they did not know it at the time, they had kick-started one of the largest law enforcement operations in Australian history. Senior investigators describe Ayik as the 'principal distributor of the AN0M handset.' Drug kingpin and Comancheros bikie associate Hakan Ayik has spent the last decade on the run from Australian authorities after fleeing the country in 2010. Organised crime evolving 'rapidly' in NZ as borders become 'porous' to illicit trade - NZ Heral Gangs and guns: Police unveil operation targeting firearms and organised crime - NZ Herald. He is due to appear in Cleveland Magistrates Court on January 20. On Monday, more than 300 New Zealand police staff involved in the operation executed 37 search warrants across the North Island. bikies, and reality TV stars arrested and charged. Police watched in real time as alleged crooks spilled their secrets to one another on their own app. The 5-year hunt for Comancheros gang boss. 'Sadly, criminal gangs are targetingAustralia because it is one of themost profitable countries in theworld to sell drugs, and for threeyears, this operation has been overt.'. MDMA, cash and firearms were seized by police in October in Operation Cincinnati. A 46-year-old Mango Hill man charged with nine offences including two counts of trafficking in dangerous drugs - serious organised crime, two counts of supplying dangerous drugs and weapon offences. Alleged crooks even paid six-monthly subscription fees to the police - the money only further reinforcing law enforcement methods. Senior leaders of the Comancheros and Rebels gangs have been arrested and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash seized following a raft of armed police raids across Auckland and Christchurch. It's GRAYGATE! Todays arrests include a leader of the Comancheros gang, who allegedly formed a partnership with a senior member of the Rebels gang in Christchurch, with both allegedly running drug distribution networks in their areas, police said in a statement. The police sting has 'significantly impacted' the Comancheros and their business model as alleged club figures Mark Buddle and alleged drug kingpin Hakan Ayik remain on the run from authorities overseas. Senior bikies and mafia figures were tricked into buying hi-tech phones that would supposedly let them messages one another, free of police snooping. It will also be alleged six vehicles were either stolen or used to commit an offence including two cars, a motorcycle, truck, trailer and jet ski worth a combined $230,000. "I did say this as this was the defence I was running," he wrote in a letter from Acacia Prison. One man has also been charged with conspiring to import methamphetamine between January and March. Police have charged 224 alleged offenders with 525 charges, shut down six clandestine laboratories and acted on 21 threats to kill, Pictured: one man accused of participating in the syndicate sits on his bed after being raided by AFP officers, A luxury Audi sedan seized by the AFP as part of their joint investigation with the U.S. FBI, The bust exposed new details about how one of Australia's most wanted fugitives gave police extensive access to the world's criminal underworld. Huge AFP bust has seen 4,000 cops storm Australia's underworld overnight . Its buyer, a former 747 Qantas pilot and mining, military and medical industries surplus trader, planned to donate it to a Jandakot-based tertiary education centre to train prospective engineers in disassembling aeroplanes. Through the covert operation, detectives allegedly uncovered 21 murder plots, gun distribution and mass drug trafficking, withmafia bosses,bikies, and reality TV stars arrested and charged. A 33-year-old Tarragindi man charged with 25 offences including three counts of trafficking in dangerous drugs - serious organised crime, eight counts of supplying dangerous drugs and weapon offences. 51K views, 164 likes, 10 loves, 53 comments, 86 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from 7NEWS Sydney: 7NEWS can reveal the bust is linked to exiled bikie Mark Buddle of the Comancheros. Video / Leon Menzies. A 37-year-old Capalaba man charged with 158 offences including two counts of trafficking in dangerous drugs - serious organised crime, one count of trafficking dangerous drugs, one count of producing dangerous drug, 130 counts of supplying dangerous drugs and weapon offences. An Interpol red notice has also been for Ayik's arrest, who remains on the run from authorities. The gear would then be cooked or cut if needed and distributed across the country using light planes like Santos', all while the Comancheros ensured the drugs and the syndicate's main actors would be protected as the enterprise's de-facto security arm. Micalizzi, who sat down at the back of the six seater, slept most of the time, Santos says, and spoke to him only to ask when they would arrive. It was the biggest drug bust in WA history and a day law enforcement officers would remember for years to come. Santos reckons airport workers tipped off the police during one of the fuel stops, when Micalizzi refused to leave the aircraft despite airport protocol. However, in 2010, as the Australian branch of the syndicate started to unravel, Ayik fled the country. China increases military spending in face of 'escalating' threats, Treaty ahoy! The Australian Federal Police on Tuesday revealed a breathtaking three-year tech ploy which led to 4,000 police executing 525 search warrants. (Supplied) abc.net.au/news/adf-sniper-bikie-boss-joshua-faulkhead-jailed-drugs-charges/6849724 A former Australian Defence Force (ADF) sniper who headed the drug trade in Victoria's Mildura region as a Comancheros bikie boss has been sentenced to nine years and five months in jail. Property seized included 3.7 tonnes of drugs, 104 weapons, $44,934,457 million in cash and assets expected to run into millions of dollars. A 47-year-old Mackenzie man charged with 11 offences including two counts of trafficking in dangerous drugs - serious organised crime, three counts of supplying dangerous drug and weapon offences. Globally, the operation involved at least 300 criminal networks, more than 45 languages, and at least 27 million encrypted messages. Police said the raids targeted a group believed to be involved in the importation, distribution and manufacture of methamphetamine and MDMA. It was March 5, 2008. Pictured: items seized by the AFP, More arrests are expected domestically and offshore under a coordinated global response connected to Operation Ironside. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. If Stuff is a regular part of your day, please consider becoming a supporter. It is estimated the meth could have caused more than $500 million worth of social harm if sold into the community. But during his trial in the WA District Court, Judge Christopher Stevenson said the duo had played a "dangerous game of Russian Roulette" trying to incriminate each other, "the last refuge of a desperate man to avoid any criminal liability". It was March 5, 2008. Criminals needed to know a criminal to get a device. 'THEY ARE COMPROMISED, LIARS AND YOUR DATA IS RUNNING VIA USA'. WEST Australian police have arrested the WA president of the Comanchero bikie gang and three associates after seizing 5.2kg of methamphetamine in a joint operation with NSW police. He is due to appear in Cleveland Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Users could buy phone handsets costing between $1,500 and $2,500 from what has been described as underground distributors. In 2008, police busted $8 million worth of drugs in a light plane flying to Jandakot Airport from NSW, kick-starting the largest police operation in history. Kiwi police working closely alongside international law enforcement agencies and spy networks revealed yesterday they have been secretly intercepting criminals' private communications on an encrypted digital platform built by the FBI. Revealed: The top 10 fastest-growing destinations for UK pensioners retiring overseas. He is due to appear in Cleveland Magistrates Court on December 6. A man shot dead during the horrific Wieambilla terror attack has been posthumously bestowed the highest honour. 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He's pictured with wife Fleur Messelink on their wedding day, Hakan Ayik (pictured) has been on the run from Australian authorities since 2010. AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said federal agents had been in the 'back pockets' of criminals through the encryption app. All times AEDT (GMT +11). Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. 7NEWS can reveal the bust is linked to exiled bikie Mark Buddle of the Comancheros.Police are making good progress dismantling his alleged empire of organise. Please try again later. An Interpol red notice has also been for Ayik's arrest, who remains on the run from authorities. The successful culmination of the investigations this week had caused significant disruption to organised criminal syndicates both here and overseas. Police said they had seized drugs some of which had been packaged ready for sale along with more than $200,000 in cash and a shotgun. Only five per cent of encrypted messages sent by criminals in Australia use the Anom platform - but Mr Morrison said suspects will now be living in fear ahead of further sting operations. The app AN0M was installed on mobile phones that were stripped of other capability. 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The covert surveillance led to the termination of dozens of search warrants on Monday and a swathe of arrests putting a heavy dent in the criminal drug trade here and preventing the Comancheros earning millions of dollars from narcotics. That seizure was also allegedly tied to the Comancheros. The company was apparently based in famously neutral Switzerland and boasted of 'military grade encrypt and sanitise'. Twelve people have been arrested, including senior leaders of the Comancheros and Rebels gangs, after a major drug bust operation on Wednesday. 7NEWS can reveal the bust is linked to exiled bikie Mark Buddle of the Comancheros.Police are making good progress dismantling his alleged empire of organised crime. New Zealand investigators monitored thousands of messages made on 57 encrypted criminal devices. 'This comes from the number of significant arrests. The fact they were duped into thinking a network was secure would send a message to others, he said. Police and New Zealand Customs staff carried. Video / AFP It is being credited with catching underworld figures, mafia. Pictured: weapons seized by detectives, Australia's world-first Assistance and Access Act passed in 2018 allows intelligence agencies to require tech companies to hand over encrypted messages. His associates would readily take his word for it,' an AFP investigator added. Breaking news, sport, business and more. "There will be a lot of organised criminals looking at how they're communicating over devices and wondering if they're next.". 'We allege they've beentrafficking illicit drugs intoAustralia at an industrial scale. Another nine were allegedly linked to the Rebels, eight to the Lone Wolf gang, and a handful linked to the Mongols, Finks, and Bandidos, News Corp reported. They were arrested in April 2019 during a major police bust. Santos is eight years into a 15-year sentence and will tell anyone who listens he is innocent. Officers from Strike Force Garlow found $3 million worth of methylamphetamine at a dilapidated drug lab on a rural property in Kulnura and arrested 2 men aged 48 and 35 who were allegedly making the drug ice and dealing in the proceeds of crime.Police also seized methylamphetamine oil, more than 20kg of precursor chemicals, drug manufacturing equipment and $220,000 in cash.It's understood the drugs were being made under an agreement between the Nomads and Comancheros. Operation Trojan Shield saw the FBI create a closed encrypted company, called Anom, to fill this void, allowing investigators to eavesdrop on criminal communications about drug trafficking and money laundering activities across the globe. BBC's 1million star Zoe Ball, 52, lands big new payday for Abba show on ITV. Just after 3am, with Micalizzi's bag safety stowed in the cargo hold, the pair took off in the Aztec, leaving Bankstown's runway behind en route to Whyalla, the first refuelling stop on the 15-hour journey to Jandakot. The phone, which supposedly allowed encrypted communications safe from the eyes of the law, was actually a cunning trap laid for a who's who of organised crime. His good name goes behind it, he gets some fees, there's a cut from the selling of the handsets.'. Operation Ironside, started in 2018 with a fake encrypted communication app developed in partnership with the FBI. All times AEDT (GMT +11). A luxury Ducati motorcycle, Audi sedan, Rolex watches, ammunition, bullet-proof vests, firearms and even memorabilia from the 1972 cult classic The Godfather was seized from a number of properties. More than 3,000 pounds of methamphetamine and 66 kilograms of cocaine were found in a massive drug bust in Norco last month, making it the largest seizure of meth for the DEA's Los Angeles Division. You can rely on Stuffs journalists to question the decision-makers, interview experts, and use eyewitness reporting to answer your key questions with facts and context. Video / Mike Scott. Meth bust: Airport baggage handlers smuggle 250kg this year . Williams said the group had planned to import "huge quantities" of meth and cocaine into New Zealand on a mothership, which would be met by smaller craft at sea and the drugs ferried back to shore for distribution. The huge drug bust was uncovered when detectives from the drug and firearms squad pulled over a rented Winnebago near Kellerberrin on April 16. Alleged criminals were tricked into sending messages to their criminal associates around the world via the encrypted messaging app, 'AN0M'. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Police have arrested 12 people, including senior members of the Comancheros and Rebels gangs, as part of an operation targeting the drug trade. Hayden Burber, 33,alleged treasurer of the South Australian Comanchero, Christian Taumoefolau, 31, allegedSergeant-at-Arms of the Victorian Comanchero, Eren Kaya, 28, alleged Sergeant-at-Arms from Victoria, Muhammed Topal,25, Victorian-based brother of high-ranking Comanchero figure Hasan Topal, Emmanuel Vamvoukais, 40, alleged sergeant-at-arms of the NSW South Coast, Elias Elchaar, 49, alleged national sergeant-at-arms of the Lone Wolf gang, The comments below have not been moderated, By Faulkhead was arrested with five other men in January 2014 after large-scale drug raids in the Mildura region. 3 Dec, . Sitting at Acacia Prisons crowded visitor room, he says it all began with a phone call from a client looking for a plane ride from Bankstown, in Sydneys south-west, to Jandakot. The next few months after the bust, investigators from the Australian Crime Commission infiltrated international money-laundering streams and exposed Ayik's drug empire. Wednesdays search warrants marked the second termination phase of Operation Cincinnati, which saw 26 people arrested and kilos of drugs, multiple firearms and more than $10 million in assets seized in October. It reiterated the importance of transnational law enforcement partnerships "to dismantle organised crime groups and the enormous harm they cause to our communities". The near year-long operation came to a climax on Sunday and Monday when detectives swarmed on multiple properties across Broadbeach Waters, Gaven, Tamborine, Rochdale, Steiglitz, Cleveland, Holland Park, Capalaba, Caboolture, Mount Nathan and Rockhampton. Buddle was last known to be in Iraq and Ayik is believed to be still living in Turkey and is hiding from underworld figures after he was outed as one of the 'influencers' who unwittingly spread the AN0M encrypted device. Pasilika Naufahu and Connor . Kong, who was also allegedly in possession of $2,030 cash and a revolver, was granted bail and will appear in court on June 28. Now, a man has purchased the same Aztec Piper which brought the drugs to WA.Credit: As Bankstown pilot Jamieson Santos was preparing to land his twin-engined 1970s Piper Aztec at a busy airport on the outskirts of Perth a dozen grim-faced police officers were waiting on the hot tarmac. The investigation, dubbed Operation Weirton, had been looking at a criminal syndicates alleged links to importation of controlled Class A drugs into the country, Coster said. Where 16 people charged and identified as part of Operation Tango Citron live An alleged drug syndicate believed to have links to a notorious bikie gang was dismantled by police in a massive drug bust. From Whyalla they travelled to Forrest, a popular refuelling stop more than 1100km east of Perth, near the South Australian border. Pictured: ammunition seized by authorities, Operation Ironside foiled 21 murder plots and seized more than three tonnes of drugs, $35.8 million in cash, 72 firearms and 1650 devices with the encrypted app. Throughout the covert operation, detectives allegedly uncovered murder plots, gun distribution, and mass drug trafficking, with mafia bosses, bikies, and reality TV stars arrested and charged. Two shotguns and ammunition were also found. Its bits and bobs are now scattered across his verandah and the tail and fuselage sit in a backyard in Perth's north, a dire reminder of the plane that once sat in the middle of Australia's own war on drugs and that changed law enforcement forever. Mr Kershaw said detectives have arrested thealleged 'King makers' behind the alleged crimes, prevented mass shootings insuburbs and 'frustrated serious and organised crime by seizing theirill-gotten wealth'. They paid for the fuel and he built up his hours. Santos claims he had no knowledge of any drugs being transported on the plane and maintains there was no forensic evidence linking him to the bag. A 10-month investigation targeting an alleged bikie network in Brisbane connected to the notorious Comanchero gang has led to the arrest of 42 people on nearly 430 charges and the seizure of nearly $2m in drugs, cash and property. But until now, its role in one of the biggest law enforcement operations in Australian history has remained a mystery. Officers from Strike Force . "Someone told me there was a story behind it, and then I sort of had an idea that that was the one that I vaguely remembered.". It involved three major organised crime investigations here targeting the importation, sale and supply of class-A drugs, as well as money-laundering activities. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the AFP operation, known as Operation Ironside, had struck a 'heavy blow' against organised crime. Gang expert - Canterbury University criminal justice director Jared Gilbert - said many organised criminals would be looking over their shoulders following the major police bust. Members of the Comancheros linked to the alleged conspiracy are among those arrested this week. Nine other men conjointly charged with trafficking include: Police are hunting for the vehicle involved in a hit and run incident that left an 18-year-old in a critical condition. We provided the technical capability to decrypt those messages,' he said. A 33-year-old man from the Comanchero bikie gang was identified by police as the alleged principal offender who engaged in the trafficking and supply of drugs along with other associates. Of the 303 arrests across Australia so far, 99 were former alleged bikies and associates. Subscribers with digital access can view this article. The Wednesday arrests include a leader of the Comancheros who allegedly formed a partnership with a senior member of the Rebels in Christchurch. The devices organically circulated and grew in popularity among criminals, who were confident of the legitimacy of the app because high-profile organised crime figures vouched for its integrity. Australia's biggest ever police bust used encrypted app to intercept messages Alleged bikies and associates make up a third of 303 Operation Ironside arrests Hardest hit gang were the Comancheros . Police have arrested 10 people and seized over $1 million in cash and assets following a major operation targeting the supply and distribution of methamphetamine. Police said the nine-month investigation, run by the National Organised Crime Group, targeted a core group that are alleged to be involved in the importation, distribution and manufacture of methamphetamine and MDMA, and other drugs in the two cities. It comes as there have been tonnes of drugs and hundreds of arrests overseas. 23:02 EST 13 Nov 2021. At least 35 people were arrested who appeared yesterday in Auckland and Hamilton district courts facing nearly 1000 separate drug dealing and money laundering charges. Six people have been charged over a major methamphetamine importation and the biggest drug bust in New Zealand history. As officers searched the black sports bag, they uncovered nearly $8 million worth of drugs. China increases military spending in face of escalating threats. CULVER CITY, Calif. (KABC) -- Authorities made one of the largest drug busts in Los Angeles County history recently, seizing meth and cocaine with a street value of nearly $60 million, officials say. They claim to have disrupted those planned importations. 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