THE HAGUE, The Netherlands – European police dealt a big blow to organized crime after deciphering an encrypted communications network that allowed them to covertly monitor “over the shoulder” of criminals in real time while planning drug trafficking, arms sales, killings and torture, they announced. officers on Thursday.
The massive cross-border investigation began in 2017 when French police began investigating phones using the secure communication tool EncroChat and were finally able to bypass encryption to gain direct access to user communications.
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“It was as if we were sitting at the table where the criminals were chatting among themselves,” said Jannine van den Berg, head of the Dutch National Police Force.
Police and European judicial authorities said they hope the investigation will send shock waves through organized crime gangs across the continent.
The encrypted platform was used by 60,000 people worldwide, including around 10,000 in Britain, British police said. The service sent a message to all its users on June 13, warning them that their systems had been breached and urging users to throw away their phones, the European Union law enforcement agency Europol added.
The agency said EncroChat sold its “crypto phones” for around 1,000 euros each and offered worldwide coverage subscriptions for 1,500 euros for six months.
Britain’s National Crime Agency said it used EncroChat data to start investigations that led to the arrest of 746 suspects and the seizure of more than £ 54 million ($ 68 million) in criminal cash, 77 firearms and more. 2 tons of drugs.
Together we have protected the public by arresting mid-level criminals and drug lords, the so-called iconic untouchables who have evaded law enforcement for years, and now we have the evidence to prosecute them, “said NCA Director of Investigations Nikki Holland. .
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“Infiltrating this command and control communication platform for the UK criminal market is like having an insider in each of the country’s main organized crime groups,” added Holland.
The London Metropolitan Police used EncroChat data to launch what it called its most significant operation against organized crime, saying in a statement that it had arrested “some of London’s oldest and most dangerous criminals” and confiscated more than 13 million pounds in cash.
The Dutch police used an astonishing treasure trove of criminal communications, some 20 million messages, to launch a wave of drug searches and arrests in recent months, said Andy Kraag, head of the central investigative division of the Dutch national police.
“Now, what seems to be possible only in thrillers and police series that we’ve seen happen before our very eyes,” Kraag said. “In fact, we have been able to see what is happening in real time with criminals.”
So far, the Dutch investigation has led to the arrest of more than 100 suspects and the seizure of more than 8,000 kilograms (17,600 pounds) of cocaine and 1,200 kilograms (2,600 pounds) of methamphetamine, as well as the dismantling of 19 synthetic drug laboratories and seizure of dozens of firearms.
It is not the first time that the Dutch police have been involved in a major cyber bite. In 2017, Dutch cyber detectives secretly took over an online marketplace and acted as its administrators, collecting usernames and passwords and recording data on thousands of drug sales.
British Home Secretary Priti Patel congratulated the police agencies involved.
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“This operation demonstrates that criminals will not get away with using encrypted devices to plan vile crimes under the radar,” said Patel.
