THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A global sting involving an encrypted communications platform developed by the FBI has sparked raids and arrests around the world, delivering “an unprecedented blow” to crime gangs, law enforcement 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 $148 million in cash and cryptocurrencies.
“Operation Trojan Shield is a shining example of what can be accomplished when international law enforcement partners from around the world work together and develop state-of-the-art investigative tools to detect, disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations,” Calvin Shivers, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, said at a news conference in The Hague.
It was, said Australian Federal Police Commander Jennifer Hearst, “a watershed moment in global law enforcement history.”
Dutch National Police Chief Constable Jannine van den Berg said the operation 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 Sky ECC. That meant crime gangs which traffic drugs and organize underworld hits around the world were in the market for new secure phones.
The FBI had just what they needed. An app called ANOM that was installed on modified mobile phones.
“There was a void that was created by a lack of these encrypted platforms,” said Shivers. “So that created an opportunity for collaboration with our international partners, to not only develop the specific tool but also to develop the process of gathering the intelligence and disseminating the intelligence.”
