AFP Operation Kraken uncovers links to organised crime and Ghost messaging platform

Two Melbourne men have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a drug trafficking operation linked to Italian organised crime, following an extensive Australian Federal Police investigation known as Operation Kraken-Kashyyyk. The investigation targeted members of organised crime groups who were using Ghost, an encrypted communications platform created specifically for criminal use. The platform has since been dismantled through a coordinated international law enforcement operation.

The AFP launched the investigation in July 2024 after identifying criminal networks suspected of using the encrypted application to coordinate the trafficking of commercial quantities of controlled drugs. Investigators later identified two men, both aged 27 and from the Melbourne suburbs of Moonee Ponds and Keilor East, as key suspects in the operation.

Search warrants were executed at properties in both suburbs in September 2024. During the raids, officers seized cash, illicit drugs, steroids and a number of encrypted communication devices believed to have been used to facilitate criminal activity. The two men were arrested and formally charged in November 2024.

The Keilor East man pleaded guilty to trafficking a marketable quantity of a controlled drug and was sentenced on 4 August 2026 to six years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of three years. The Moonee Ponds man also pleaded guilty and received a sentence of five years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of three years. In addition to the drug trafficking offence, he was convicted of dealing with more than $10,000 while intending the money to become an instrument of crime.

Australian Federal Police Commander Nick Read says the outcome highlights the AFP’s ability to disrupt organised crime groups that attempt to exploit encrypted technology. He says technology does not make criminals invisible and warned that anyone using encrypted platforms to facilitate serious criminal offending should expect to be identified, investigated and brought before the courts. Commander Read added that the sentences send a strong message that involvement in organised crime carries serious consequences.