FBI phone hack — messages reveal suspected ‘drugs in toilet rolls’ plot tied to Australia and SA

24 Mar 2025

Cartels roll out a new trick – hiding contraband in toilet paper canisters, according to a court case against a suspected criminal in Australia who is accused of arranging a huge shipment from South Africa.

Someone using the handle “tennis” and another person using “twocome” exchanged messages about a fishing boat, crew members and port workers. They also mentioned “ice” from Malaysia and “cc” (apparently referencing cocaine) from South Africa.

The messages between “tennis” and “twocome” are now central to a court matter in Australia that is among the legal ripple effects of an international organised crime crackdown that started years ago.

The messages were gleaned from communication devices using the Anom messaging app. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) peddled encrypted Anom devices to criminals, who were unaware that law enforcement had access to messages in which they detailed breaking the law.

Read more: No business like blow business: Encrypted devices unravel knots of worldwide organised crime

From 2018, Anom devices spread around the world, including South Africa. The platform was shut down in June 2021 when more than 800 arrests were made globally.

In South Africa, a suspect driving a bakkie with a ski boat on a trailer was arrested in Pretoria. Cocaine weighing 800kg and estimated to be worth R400-million was found in the hull.

Five other suspects were subsequently arrested and the South African police launched a search for two men from Lithuania and a third from Israel.

Read more: Crackdown — Suspected global cocaine smugglers arrested in SA in joint US-Australia ‘underworld hack’ swoop

Court cases related to Anom have continued in the US. The Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California announced last month that eight extradited individuals, out of 17 indicted in San Diego in 2021, admitted to participating in the “worldwide conspiracy” to distribute the devices. In plea agreements, they said they had promoted Anom as “built by criminals for criminals”.

Asked about investigations related to Anom, Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the unit was “not in a position to speak on behalf of the FBI”. No response was received to a follow-up question about whether investigations linked to Anom were continuing in South Africa.

Australian court case

More details about South Africa’s ties to suspected drug traffickers accused of using Anom are emerging via Australia, where a court case against Gjelosh Nikollaj (62), a dual citizen of Australia and Montenegro, is taking place.

Nikollaj was arrested in June 2021 on suspicions relating to importing drugs. He was charged with Anom-related crimes in February the following year.

Last week, on 12 March, the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal granted Nikollaj bail with strict conditions, including that he “is not to use or possess any encrypted device or any means of communicating via encrypted applications, including but not limited to WhatsApp, Snapchat, Wickr, Viber, KIK Messenger, or Telegram”.

In its bail ruling, the court said Nikollaj had pleaded not guilty in the Anom matter and was set to go on trial in February 2026. His stance was that “there is a real prospect that the… case will fail on the basis that the Anom messages are inadmissible”. Even if the messages were admitted, he believed his involvement “falls short of entry into the alleged conspiracy”.

According to the indictment, Nikollaj used the Anom handle “tennis” between 9 and 25 May 2021. It alleges that he had “conspired with a person using the Anom handle ‘twocome’ and… others to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, namely 1.6 to 1.7 tonnes of either heroin or cocaine hidden in toilet paper roll canisters brought into Australia by sea freight”.

It also alleges that, before that, Nikollaj had messaged “twocome” about meeting someone, offering them 15% of something, and that he would “offer [a] bit more” if that person said no.

“Tennis” and “twocome” allegedly discussed “ice” and “H” from Malaysia and “coke” or “cc” from South Africa. This suggests there were plans to get cocaine from South Africa to Australia. It is also alleged that the duo had discussed a “boat job” and that Nikollaj explained that the “fishing boat” system had been used for a long time in Sydney before the introduction of an electronic detection system.

Read more: Australian cocaine trafficking-accused ‘De Niro’ with SA links has brotherly ties to R12bn global crime web

The bail ruling said that when Nikollaj was arrested in June 2021, the police found an Anom device in his apartment, but he denied it was his.

Ties that bind

Those driving the case against Nikollaj, according to the bail ruling, had referenced a “familial connection” between Nikollaj and Vaso Ulic, another crime accused, who also has suspected drug ties to South Africa.

Ulic was referred to in a July 2020 Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime research report titled Transnational Tentacles: Global Hotspots of Western Balkan Organized Crime.

“A major criminal group in Australia [is] apparently centred around ethnic Albanian Vaso Ulic (who has dual Australian and Montenegrin citizenship). In its prime, this group is reported to have smuggled six tonnes of drugs a year to Australia, South Africa and China.”

Ulic was arrested in Montenegro in 2017. At the time, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said Ulic had been born in Albania, moved to Australia in 1979 and left in 2004.

“It is suspected Mr Ulic led a global criminal syndicate suspected of smuggling drugs and firearms into Australia,” the AFP said.

Ulic appears to have been released from custody at some point, because in 2024 it was reported that he was arrested again, in Montenegro.

Meanwhile, there are other links connecting Anom, South Africa and Australia, as well as other countries. Daily Maverick previously reported on Hakan Ayik, also known as Joseph Hakan Ayik.

Read more: ‘Most-wanted drug trafficker’ accused of peddling FBI hacked phones linked to South Africa, arrested in Turkey

He is a Turkish citizen who allegedly headed an outlaw motorcycle gang linked to Australia and was accused of peddling Anom devices. He was arrested in Turkey in 2023 and was previously suspected of crimes including using planes to fly drugs out of South Africa. DM

Caryn Dolley’s explosive new book, Man Alone: Mandela’s Top Cop – Exposing South Africa’s Ceaseless Sabotage, is now available in bookstores and at the Daily Maverick Shop.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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Australian court case

Ties that bind