The Hague, Netherlands:
Police arrested more than 800 individuals worldwide in a big worldwide sting involving encrypted phones that have been secretly planted by the FBI, law enforcement agencies stated Tuesday.
Officers have been in a position to study the messages of worldwide underworld figures in about one hundred nations as they plotted drug bargains, arms transfers and gangland hits on the compromised ANOM devices.
The proof from “Operation Trojan Shield” prevented about one hundred murders and foiled many huge-scale drug shipments, stated officials from the FBI, the EU’s police agency Europol and other nations as far afield as Australia.
“The results are staggering,” FBI Assistant Director Calvin Shivers told reporters at Europol’s HQ in The Netherlands.
He stated the FBI had supplied criminal syndicates in more than one hundred nations with the devices more than the last 18 months “that allowed us to monitor their communications.”
Europol stated police from a total of 16 nations launched raids on the basis of proof from the phones, about 12,000 of which have been distributed worldwide.
“This information led over the last week to hundreds of law enforcement operations on a global scale from New Zealand to Australia to Europe and the USA, with impressive results,” stated Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, Deputy Director Operations at Europol.
“More than 800 arrests, more than 700 locations searched, more than 8 tonnes of cocaine.”
“Heavy blow”
Australian police stated the supposedly hardened encrypted devices have been handed out to operatives inside the mafia, Asian crime syndicates, drug cartels and outlaw motorcycle gangs as aspect of the elaborate FBI-led plot.
In Australia alone, more than 200 individuals have been charged as aspect of the operation, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated Tuesday had “struck a heavy blow against organised crime — not just in this country, but one that will echo around organised crime around the world”.
The operation started right after worldwide police work in the previous two years disrupted two other significant encrypted phone networks utilized by criminals, Encrochat and SkyGlobal.
“The closure of those two encrypted communication platforms created a significant void in the encrypted communication market,” stated New Zealand police.
To fill the void, “the FBI operated its own encrypted device company, called ‘ANOM’,” the New Zealand police added.
The FBI’s Shivers stated this enabled them to “turn the tables” on criminals.
“We were actually able to see photographs of hundreds of tonnes of cocaine that were concealed in shipments of fruit, we were able to see hundreds of kilos of cocaine that were concealed in canned goods,” Shivers stated.
According to unsealed court documents cited by US media outlet Vice, the FBI worked with insiders to create and distribute AN0M devices via the Phantom Secure network of current criminal clients, unloading 50 — largely to Australia — as a “beta test.”
– ‘They came to us’ –
The devices are stated to have had no e-mail, get in touch with or GPS services and could only message other ANOM phones.
They could only be purchased on the black market place — for about $2,000 — and needed a code from an current user to access.
“They actually came to us seeking these devices,” Shivers stated.
Australian agencies helped get the phones in the hands of underworld “influencers” — such as an Australian fugitive drug boss on the run in Turkey — in a bid to get trust.
The cover appeared to be blown in March 2021 when a blogger detailed AN0M safety flaws and claimed it was a scam linked to Australia, the United States and other members of the FiveEyes intelligence sharing network. The post was later deleted.
The Australian Federal Police stated that as a outcome of the operation, a total of 224 individuals have been now facing more than 500 charges in Australia alone, though six underground drug labs have been shut down and firearms and Aus$45 million (US$35 million) in money was seized.
“We allege they are members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, Australian mafia, Asian crime syndicates and serious and organised crime groups,” federal police commissioner Reece Kershaw stated.
New Zealand Police detective superintendent Greg Williams stated 35 individuals had been arrested across the nation.
Police in New Zealand seized methamphetamine, firearms, and millions of dollars in money and assets throughout the operation.
ANOM’s web page — which after provided “military grade” encryption services and devices with particular features like “light and dark” show themes — was unavailable Tuesday, with a message from authorities that the “domain has been seized.”
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