[Source: 7News ]

A high-profile federal police organised crime operation has netted 340 scalps this year.

Operation Ironside, a sting set up to clamp down on organised criminals, is the largest in the Australian Federal Police’s 40-year history.

The 340 people arrested have been charged with 1011 offences, the AFP said on Tuesday.

Officers have seized more than 6.3 tonnes of drugs and and 141 weapons as part of the operation, which involved an encryption app called AN0M.

Unbeknownst to the gangland figures who were using it, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and the AFP could read messages sent on AN0M.