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WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Authorities in Australia, New Zealand and Europe said Tuesday they dealt a major blow to organized crime after deceiving hundreds of criminals into using a messaging app that was secretly run by the FBI. Police said criminal gangs believed the encrypted app called ANOM was safe from snooping when in fact authorities were monitoring millions of messages about drug smuggling, money laundering and even planned murders. The app was part of a global sting called Operation Trojan Shield, which was led by the FBI and involved the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the European Union police agency Europol and law enforcement agencies in more than a dozen countries.
“The results are amazing,” said FBI Assistant Director Calvin Chivers Tuesday morning at Europol headquarters in the Netherlands.
New Zealand police confiscated Google Pixel smartphones during arrests and seizures made as part of the international law enforcement operation Trojan Shield. New Zealand Police Bulletin via Reuters
Chivers said the FBI supplied criminal groups in more than 100 different countries with about 12,000 devices containing the ANOM app over about two years, allowing agents to “monitor their communications.”
Europol said police from a total of 16 countries carried out raids that were triggered by evidence from smartphones monitored by the FBI.
“Over the past week, this information has led to hundreds of law enforcement operations on a global scale from New Zealand to Australia to Europe and the United States, with impressive results,” Europol’s Deputy Director of Operations, Jean-Philippe Lokoff, was quoted by AFP as saying. Tuesday. “More than 800 arrests and searches over 700 locations and more than 8 tons of cocaine.”
Australian authorities said the app was installed on bare-back mobile phones and grew in popularity organically in criminal circles after it was endorsed by some notable figures in the underworld, branded as “criminal influencers”.
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Australian authorities said they have arrested 224 people and seized more than four tons of drugs and $35 million in an ongoing operation that stretches back three years. New Zealand police said they had arrested 35 people and seized drugs and assets worth millions of dollars.
Cash was seized from suspected criminal gangs during arrests and seizures in New Zealand enabled by an international law enforcement operation that relies on the FBI’s hacking of an encrypted mobile messaging app called An0m in a video provided by New Zealand Police on June 7, 2021. New Bulletin New Zealand Police via Reuters
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters this was a watershed moment that would keep communities safe in the country.
“Today, the Australian government, as part of a global operation, has dealt a heavy blow to organized crime,” Morrison said. “Not just in this country, but in a country that would resonate around organized crime around the world.” Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reese Kershaw said the sting, called Operation Ironside in Australia, resulted from a longstanding partnership between his agency and the FBI. He said they shut down six secret laboratories and halted 21 death threats, including rescuing a family of five. “We have arrested the alleged kingmakers behind these crimes, prevented mass shootings in the suburbs, and thwarted serious and organized crime by seizing their illicit fortunes,” Kershaw said.
Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan briefs reporters on Operation Ironside, June 8, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. Evo/Getty Images
diet. Superintendent Greg Williams, who leads a New Zealand police group fighting organized crime, said the sting was made in 2018 after the FBI took down an earlier secure app favored by criminals, Phantom Secure. Williams said that left a void in the market that the authorities helped fill with ANOM. “We can’t speak highly enough about the FBI and the work they did in the background here,” Williams said. He said New Zealand is a small country and relies on the intelligence-gathering capabilities of its Five Eyes partners, including the United States, Australia, Canada and Britain.
German authorities said on Tuesday that police had arrested more than 70 suspects and searched dozens of websites as part of the global crackdown. The Frankfurt prosecutor’s office said Monday’s raids were largely in the state of Hesse.
Reuters quoted the prosecutor’s office as saying that police seized hundreds of pounds of drugs, more than 20 weapons, dozens of luxury vehicles and more than $250,000 in cash, as well as information technology equipment.
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