Operation Trojan Shield: Europol and FBI lure 800 criminals into chat traps

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With the help of prepared cell phones, the European police office Europol, in cooperation with the FBI and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), was able to complete the largest law enforcement operation to date thanks to a special app. 800 suspects in 16 countries were arrested.

700 raids in 16 countries

After the FBI succeeded in reading encrypted chats on the “AN0M” platform developed by the law enforcement authorities themselves and then established in criminal circles, the investigators were able to arrest a total of 800 suspects in around 700 raids in Europe, New Zealand, Australia and the USA Seize eight tons of cocaine, 22 tons of cannabis, more than 250 firearms and 55 luxury cars.

Previously, the FBI, Europol and the law enforcement authorities involved from the Netherlands and Sweden had been able to read and analyze more than 27 million messages with the help of “Operation Trojan Shield”.

Investigators establish their own platform

As Europol explains, the investigators had appropriate “crypto cell phones” developed and then established the “AN0M” service in the criminal milieu. For a period of around 18 months since 2019, the investigators have eavesdropped on the supposedly secure communication of members of the mafia, Asian crime syndicates and criminal rocker gangs who were planning drug deals and contract killings via the platform during this period.

The FBI and the 16 other countries of the international coalition, supported by Europol and in coordination with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, then exploited the intelligence from the 27 million messages obtained and reviewed them over 18 months while ANOM's criminal users discussed their criminal activities.

Europol

The law enforcement authorities not only managed to read messages on the specially created platform in real time, but also to distribute appropriately prepared cell phones to the suspects.

Undercover investigators distributed 12,000 prepared cell phones

“Criminals had to know a criminal to get such a cell phone,” said the Australian Federal Police. As a result, “AN0M” became increasingly popular in the criminal milieu and spread quickly, as Europol announced in an official press release today. A total of 12,000 “decrypted” cell phones were used during the “Operation Trojan Shield”, according to Tagesschau.de more than 9,000 were in use until the end, most of them in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia and Serbia.

According to the news magazine, “the investigators found a total of more than 140 million US dollars”.

70 suspects arrested in Germany

According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, 150 objects were searched in Germany and a total of 70 suspects were arrested. They are accused of gang trafficking in drugs and weapons.

The FBI called the clandestine eavesdropping on organized crime “Operation Trojan Shield”, which law enforcement agencies in Australia called it “Operation Ironshield”.

Informant receives a reward of 120,000 US dollars

The Informant, who himself has already served several years in prison for drug trafficking, received a reward of 120,000 US dollars and a reimbursement of expenses of another 60,000 US dollars for his information and the provision of “AN0M”.

< p class = "p text-width"> Europol announced further information at a press conference.