Decrypted chats: European investigators take down criminal networks

European law enforcement officers are continuing to make extensive use of the data they captured in 2021, the AN0M messenger designed as a trap and the hacking of the Sky ECC communication service. Investigators throughout Europe and Turkey have now carried out several raids based on their findings.

They have broken up four large criminal networks responsible for smuggling drugs into the EU and Turkey, Europol, the organization coordinating the raids, announced on Tuesday. The searches took place on 15 April in several European countries including Turkey and were directed “against the top management” and “the logistical branches” of the organized gangs. A total of 232 suspects were arrested, including “high-ranking targets who played a central role in drug trafficking and money laundering operations”. Law enforcement officers from Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey, among others, took part in the investigations coordinated by Europol. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) from Germany was also involved.

In the course of the raids, the police forces involved confiscated assets worth over 300 million euros, including 681 properties and 127 vehicles. The officers also seized at least 21 tons of narcotics and 3.3 million ecstasy tablets. The investigators accuse the targeted criminal organizations, which are said to have operated individually, of having established themselves “as dominant players in the European drug trade” along with associated crimes such as violent crime.

Europol deputy director: “We'll get you”

Europol describes the operation, dubbed “Bulut” (Turkish for cloud), as “data-driven”. The responsible French authorities had passed on decrypted Sky ECC data to Turkey to support local investigations. The Australian Federal Police also provided the authorities in Asia Minor with information skimmed from Anom.

One of Europol's tasks was to cross-reference information on suspects with passenger name records and other systems to enable clandestine surveillance of important targets. Europol Deputy Director Jean-Philippe Lecouffe emphasized the continued importance of the captured chat messages even after four years: This means that no one is beyond the law “when countries cooperate and act based on solid intelligence”. In 2023, for example, the Belgian and Spanish police used Europol and Sky ECC data to dismantle a banking system for money laundering.

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