More than 200 people were detained in Australia
In the course of a large-scale operation with the participation of the FBI, more than 800 people were detained around the world, involved in drug trafficking and other crimes. The detainees used the secure messenger ANOM, which, as it turned out, was developed by the American special services.
In a joint US-Australian operation, ANOM was developed and distributed to the criminal community. Thanks to this, the police were able to monitor closed chats in which they discussed drug smuggling, money laundering and even planning murders.
The raids in more than 10 countries have seized 8 tons of cocaine, 250 firearms and more than $ 48 million in cash and cryptocurrency.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said organized crime had been hit hard, while Europol Deputy Director Jean-Philippe Lecouffe said it was the largest high-tech police operation ever.
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In Australia, 224 people were detained, including members of Asian criminal gangs and biker gangs, three tons of drugs and 45 million Australian (35 million US) dollars were confiscated.
In addition, police responded to 20 counts of death threats and may have saved the lives of “a significant number of innocent bystanders,” Australian police said in a statement.
Weapons, motorcycles, cash and other potential evidence were seized during the raids
Superintendent Greg Williams, head of the New Zealand Police Organized Crime Unit, said 35 people were arrested in the country and NZ $ 3.7 million (US $ 2.7 million) were confiscated.
How did ANOM work?
The idea of the operation came to the special services after two anonymous messengers were blocked. The criminals needed a new platform for anonymous communication.
Then the FBI developed the ANOM messenger. The application was distributed through informants. In 2018, undercover detectives were able to convince the Australian drug dealer Hakan Aik of the complete reliability of ANOM, who recommended the messenger to crime bosses. Their example was followed by criminals of a lower rank.
“To get a modified phone with this application, you had to know the perpetrator personally. You could not call or send emails from these phones. You could only communicate with people who have this messenger,” the Australian police said in a statement.
Weapons seized during raids
In total, the app has been used on 12,000 modified phones by crime syndicates in more than 100 countries.
The ostensibly anonymous application gave the security forces conducting the operation access to a variety of chats in which the suspects participated – and the ability to read their messages in real time.
“Their main themes were drugs, violence, showdown with each other, murder of innocent people and so on,” said Rhys Kershaw, a spokesman for the Australian federal police against organized crime, at a press conference.
“The unprecedented interception of their communications has played a key role,” he added, noting that other encrypted messengers are also used by organized crime.
Kershaw said that Aik, who was on the run, had received a “black mark” from his accomplices for unwittingly helping the FBI, and therefore it was in his best interest to surrender to the authorities.
Aik, nicknamed the “Facebook gangster” by the Australian media, did not know he was helping law enforcement. He is now presumably in Turkey, where he enjoys a luxurious life with his Danish wife. Many photos of him with a muscular torso and numerous tattoos on the body.
Europol did not name the number of arrests by country, but police officers in Sweden and Germany reported on the success of the operation.
