Hundreds arrested worldwide after Europol & FBI sting success

Law enforcement agencies launched a messaging app designed to suit the needs of crime groups

More than 800 people have been arrested worldwide in an organised crime sting involving the interception of encrypted communications by law enforcement agencies.

Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, deputy executive director of Europol, praised the successes of Operation Trojan Shield on Tuesday. The operation saw law enforcement agencies in 18 countries seizing over $148 million in currency, hundreds of illegal weapons, six tons of cocaine and five tons of marijuana.

The FBI and other agencies set up and secretly ran the ANOM messaging app, which was designed to suit the needs of organised crime groups. They were then able to access more than 27 million messages sent through the app.

As part of the plan, undercover agents in various countries provided special phones, with ANOM pre-installed, to criminals, who then recommended the device to their associates. Those devices were unable to send emails or make calls and were only available through the black market.

The FBI said 'many' criminals gangs switched to ANOM after the takedown of Sky ECC in March, giving agencies an insight into their plans.

The platform 'grew to service more than 12,000 encrypted devices to over 300 criminal syndicates operating in more than 100 countries, including Italian organised crime, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and international drug trafficking organisations,' according to Europol.

Gangs who used the app had their chats saved on systems accessible to law enforcement.

"Encrypted devices have been and continue to be a safe haven for criminal organisations, in particular the leadership of these organisations - providing them a platform for their communications that we have not had access to," said Jamie Arnold, FBI San Diego Assistant Special Agent in Charge.

"For the agents on the investigative team and our federal and international partners, this was a creative and innovative way for us to get behind that firewall and see what was happening among the leadership of these criminal organisations," he added.

Agencies made arrests in 18 countries, including the USA, UK, Germany, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Reece Kershaw said in a press conference that the ANOM platform helped to foil 21 murder plots, including one that would have targeted a family of five.

Some of those arrested in Australia were "members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, Australian Mafia, Asian crime syndicates and serious and organised crime groups," Kershaw said.

German prosecutors said that more than 70 suspects were arrested in Germany as part of the global operation.

"Criminal groups using encrypted communications to thwart law enforcement should no longer feel safe in that space," Jamie Arnold noted.

"We hope criminals worldwide will fear that the FBI or another law enforcement organisation may, in fact, be running their platform."

Arnold also said that the FBI and its partners would continue to disrupt "transnational organised criminal organizations, wherever they are and however they choose to communicate".