A massive international sting involving 16 countries, including the U.S., has netted more than 800 suspects, the seizure of 8 tons of cocaine and more than $48 million, officials said Tuesday. The FBI and Australian law enforcement developed and operated an encrypted device company, called ANOM, that was then used to gain access to organized crime networks in more than 100 countries, according to Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union. “Operation Trojan Shield is a shining example of what can be accomplished when law enforcement partners from around the world work together and develop state of the art investigative tools to detect, disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations,” said Calvin Shivers, the assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division in a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands.
ANOM’s users believed the devices to be secure, according to Jannine van den Berg of the Dutch National Police at the press conference. Access to the communications of those involved in criminal networks meant that law enforcement agencies were able to read encrypted messages over the course of 18 months. In addition to the cocaine, the operation netted 22 tons of marijuana, 2 tons of methamphetamines and amphetamines and 250 firearms, U.S. authorities said. “The worldwide implications of this investigation are staggering,“ Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Randy Grossman told reporters in San Diego. The platform’s users communicated in 45 languages about trafficking and drugs, arms and explosives, armed robberies, contract killings and more, said van der Berg. “I think what surprised us …
is how open they were about planning,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner told reporters in San Diego. “It was exactly what car was coming to what location. What maybe vessels or ships. They were very explicit in their detail because they believed it was secure communications.” Nearly three years ago the Australian Federal Police began developing the technology that allowed law enforcement to access and read messages sent on a platform covertly run by the FBI, Australian Federal Police Commander Jennifer Hurst said.
