Taking down Encrosat encrypted network: “More than 200 assassination plots could be foiled” | the world

The European police cooperation agencies, Europol and judicial cooperation, Eurojust and the French and Dutch public prosecutor’s offices presented the hunting board during a press conference in Lille (North). In Roubaix of EncroChat servers.

At this point, 6,658 people have been arrested, including 197 “high-value targets”, almost 900 million euros of criminal assets seized or frozen, more than 100 tons of cocaine, 160 tons of cannabis, 923 weapons, 40 planes or 271 houses. and assets were seized, Europol listed. Jean-Philippe Leghoff, Europol’s deputy executive director, pointed out that “hundreds of murders or kidnappings that could have ended badly” were also “avoided”. 7,134 years of imprisonment thanks to the decryption amount.

“Up to 123 countries” were involved in the operation, which “undoubtedly marked a turning point in the fight against organized crime” and international cooperation to tackle it, Mr. Lecouffe underlined. Penetration of this network, which assured criminal groups a complete lack of traceability, was able to intercept 115 million “criminal conversations” from approximately 60,000 users. Europol notes that network users are concentrated “especially in countries of origin and destination” of drug trafficking and “money laundering centers”.

On June 13, 2020, Encrosat was taken down by French and Dutch judicial and police authorities in July 2020, after the network discovered that it had been intruded by Encrosat. Engrosat was selling fully encrypted phones for around €1,000, with no camera, microphone, GPS or USB port, and a “panic pin code” option that allowed flash erasure. According to Europol, over three years, that’s enough to bring “about 200 million euros to the group that set it up.” “Key leaders in construction, solution developers, logistics managers, members and/or telephone resellers, have been identified,” Ms. Etienne pointed out further.

The investigation into the network’s organizers is the subject of a judicial inquiry opened by the Special Inter-Regional Jurisdiction (JIRS) of Lille since May 2020. With this “basic file” “about ten people are concerned”, in France, especially in Roubaix, but also in Canada, the Dominican Republic, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, for acts committed in Hong Kong or Panama, between 2017 and 2021.

At this point, he clarified that three people arrested in Spain in June 2022 have been charged in this aspect in France, “in particular the leaders of a criminal organization aimed at preparing crimes or misdemeanors”. Two of them were jailed. Their defense tried to challenge the charges in the Duai Court of Appeal. “Other persons are outside the European Union” and Ms. According to Etienne “follow their course”.

Three suspects have also been arrested in the Netherlands, while a fourth is on the run, said Renske Maker, the Dutch prosecutor for international cooperation. They are considered the “middle layer” between Engrosat management and telephone receivers.

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