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Friday, 6 December 2024, 15:56
National Police officers in Spain have taken part in a European-wide operation in which an encrypted messaging service used by criminals has been broken up. The operation began on Tuesday 3 December in Marbella and two people have been arrested in Spain following a European arrest warrant issued by the Netherlands. As well as the two arrests, 145,000 euros in cash and 974 mobile telephones were seized during six searches in Marbella.
A phone repair shop was also closed down as part of the operation in which multiple cryptocurrency cold wallets used to finance the encrypted communication service were seized. The operation was carried out simultaneously by agents from Spain, France, Italy, Lithuania and the Netherlands with the support of Europol and Eurojust.
The investigation was launched after authorities in the Netherlands detected an alleged illicit messaging service set up by criminals to provide secure communication services to other criminals, the National Police said in a statement. The service was discovered on the phone of a person who had been convicted of the murder of a Dutch journalist.
During the investigation it was found that the service, called Matrix, had a more complex infrastructure than other previously detected platforms such as Sky ECC and EncroChat, where users could only use the service if they received an invitation. The infrastructure to run the platform consisted of more than 40 servers installed in more than five countries, some of the most important in France.
The cooperation between the Dutch and French authorities started through a joint investigation team set up at Eurojust. Through the use of complex technology the authorities were able to intercept the messaging service and monitor the activity of the illicit service. The messages that could be detected were related to serious crimes such as arms and drug trafficking and money laundering.
Criminals using the messaging service are being alerted to the interception and shutdown of the platform via a landing page, they said. The investigation will allow authorities to access the messages for their investigations.
This cross-border investigation "is a great example of the importance of international cooperation in the fight against serious organised crime," said the National Police. By working in a joint investigation team, the Dutch and French authorities were able to exchange information and evidence quickly and execute joint actions.
To support investigations into illegal activities provided by this communication platform, an Operational Task Force (OTF) was set up at Europol in June 2024 between the Netherlands, France, Lithuania, Italy and Spain. This task force has played "a key role in monitoring criminal activity on the platform".
Europol's OTF will also provide assistance for independent follow-up investigations derived from intelligence gathered during the operation. They explained that the field of encrypted communications has become more fragmented following the closure of several services such as Sky ECC, EncroChat, Exclu and Ghost. Criminals, in response to the disruption of their messaging services, have turned to a variety of less established or custom-designed communication tools that offer varying degrees of security and anonymity.
More than 2.3 million messages in 33 languages were intercepted and decrypted during the investigation. As a result of this joint operation, in total 145,000 euros in cash, 500,000 euros in cryptocurrencies, four vehicles, more than 970 phones have been seized.
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