A global sting involving an encrypted communications platform developed by the FBI has sparked a series of raids and arrests around the world, deliver

FBI-made messaging app tricks gangs, leads to hundreds of arrests in global sting

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2021-06-08 14:00:10

A global sting involving an encrypted communications platform developed by the FBI has sparked a series of raids and arrests around the world, delivering “an unprecedented blow” to crime gangs, authorities said Tuesday.

Operation Trojan Shield involved police swoops in 16 nations. More than 800 suspects were arrested, and more than 32 tons of drugs — cocaine, cannabis, amphetamines and methamphetamines — were seized along with 250 firearms, 55 luxury cars and more than $48 million in cash and cryptocurrencies.

Australian Federal Police Commander Jennifer Hearst called the operation “a watershed moment in global law enforcement history.”

Dutch National Police Chief Constable Jannine van den Berg said the sting dealt “an unprecedented blow to criminal networks, and this is worldwide.”

The seeds of the operations were sown when law-enforcement agencies earlier took down two other encrypted platforms, EncroChat and SkyECC. That meant that crime gangs trafficking in drugs and ordering underworld killings across the globe were in the market for new secure phones.