Australian police arrest over 200 after cracking underworld messaging app

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian police arrested more than 200 people involved in organised crime after infiltrating an encrypted messaging app that opened up nearly 25 million messages about “industrial scale” drug imports and murder plots, officials said on Tuesday.

They said the joint operation between Australia and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, which begun in 2018, has ensnared criminals in Australia, Asia, South America and the Middle East involved in the global narcotics trade.

“[It] has struck a heavy blow against organised crime – not just in this country, but one that will echo around organised crime around the world. This is a watershed moment in Australian law enforcement history,” Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Sydney.

Australia did not detail any arrests in other countries but said Europol and the FBI would hold news conferences later on Tuesday.

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