Australia seized $ 37.9 million in cryptocurrency via AN0M messenger

The South Australian police arrested 55 people in the third phase of Operation Ironside, a large-scale special operation aimed at dismantling criminal networks that used the encrypted messenger AN0M. According to the Australian Federal Police (AFP), crypto assets worth about $ 37.9 million (AUD 58 million) were seized as part of the investigation.

The operation was resumed after the decision of the High Court of Australia, which recognized the legal use of intercepted AN0M messages as evidence in criminal cases. Investigators have brought about 800 charges related to drug and weapons trafficking and participation in organized criminal groups. The data obtained from AN0M is also used to expand money laundering and financial crime cases.

Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams said that the court’s ruling «paved the way for many cases to be concluded» as it allows the use of evidence collected in 2018−2021, when the FBI secretly monitored the AN0M network. Earlier, the court rejected an appeal by two suspects who tried to prove the illegality of the information collection.

The AN0M messenger was designed as a tool for intelligence agencies: it was installed on phones without a camera, GPS, or browser, which were distributed to criminals under the guise of «safe» devices. In fact, all messages were automatically duplicated to servers controlled by the FBI and transmitted to AFP. The operation in Australia involved about 1,600 such devices, from which almost 19.3 million messages were intercepted.

Europol noted that criminal networks are increasingly using cryptocurrencies, which complicates investigations. According to the Swyftx survey, 60% of Australians still do not trust digital assets, and a third of respondents attribute this to the risk of fraud and the use of cryptocurrencies in criminal schemes.