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Investigators from Germany and Austria have closed several criminal chats with thousands of members of the Telegram messaging service. The defendants are said to have dealt in drugs and weapons. Two men were arrested.
Investigators in several federal states have taken action against administrators of chat groups on the messaging service Telegram due to illegal trafficking of narcotics, forged documents and stolen data. In an action in six federal states, nine chat groups with around 8,000 members were “seized and secured.” This was announced by the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Central Office for Combating Internet Crimes (ZIT) with the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Frankfurt am Main.
28 suspects are under investigation in Germany and Austria. Yesterday 30 objects were registered. More than four kilograms of narcotics, eight weapons and 8,000 euros in cash, as well as data carriers and smartphones, were secured.
Alleged drug and arms trafficking
According to the information, the authorities are investigating 13 men between the ages of 18 and 54. A 25-year-old from the Offenbach district in Hesse was arrested, and a 19-year-old from the same district is due to appear before the judge today.
Since June, active traders have been investigated against administrators and in groups. Affected groups and chats include, for example, “Silk Road”, “GermanRefundCrew” or “Cracked Account Store”.
Messenger as an alternative to Darknet
According to researchers, trading via chat service is an alternative to Darknet. The illegal business started on the channels and chats, some of which were open to the public. For example, offers were advertised with images. Distributors and buyers would have done business in separate conversations. How the authorities managed to secure the encrypted chats, they did not reveal for tactical reasons.
The Bamberg Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Bremen, Chemnitz, Essen, Hagen, Konstanz and Mannheim Public Prosecutors participated in the investigation. In addition, there were also searches in Austria by the Feldkirch prosecutor and the Vorarlberg police.
The ZIT has been observing for a year or two that crime is also migrating to messaging services like Telegram, Chief Prosecutor Benjamin Krause said. Communication there is much easier and faster than in the Darknet, it can simply be done through a smartphone. Sellers would find buyers much faster. It can be assumed that all new communication platforms will also be used for criminal purposes at some point.
Fully encrypted communication
Telegram guarantees its users full encryption. Messages, videos, and photos can be sent to individual contacts or entire groups via Messenger without being easily accessed by secret services. The service has been criticized time and again because it cooperates less with authorities than other providers.
Telegram is also accused of being an attractive communication medium for jihadists due to its encryption technology. The app is also often used to organize demonstrations in countries where freedom of expression is restricted. For example, many news about the ongoing protests in Belarus against the head of state Alexander Lukashenko spread through Telegram.
