The police were able to listen in on and monitor criminal organizations in countless countries for months after a major undercover operation. Tomorrow, an international team led by Europol will provide details and explanations about the police action, details of which several international media already know.
Criminals bought so-called “cryptophones” that weren’t encrypted as well as they’d hoped; those devices were supplied by the police themselves, through informants and undercover agents, reports De Telegraaf.
Previously, the police managed to hack into several encrypted messaging services such as SkyECC and EncroChat, but in this case the police themselves controlled the network in which the messages were shared. The police could not only read, but detectives would also have seen where the telephones were located. Voice changers could be turned off remotely.
Also arrests in the Netherlands
Police services from the United States, Australia, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, among others, worked together in the action. Today, the operation led to hundreds of arrests in various countries, including the Netherlands. There were raids, arrests and searches in North Brabant, Limburg and Rotterdam, among others.
Europol calls the operation “the most sophisticated attempt to date to disrupt the activities of criminals in all parts of the world”.
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