Security News > 2021 > March > European Police Pounce After Cracking Crime Chat Network
Police said Wednesday they had arrested at least 80 people and carried out hundreds of raids in two European countries after shutting down an encrypted phone network used by organised crime groups.
Police launched a top-secret operation to crack the SKY ECC network - which operates over a special phone - and "As of mid-February, authorities have been able to monitor the information flow of approximately 70,000 users," the Hague-based law agencies said.
In Belgium, police raided some 200 homes and arrested at least 48 people.
Police confiscated at least 185 devices with SKY ECC encryption.
Called "Operation Argus" in the Netherlands, police arrested 30 people and searched 75 homes.
"Many criminals decided to move over to SKY ECC after that," Europol spokesman Jan Op Gen Oorth told AFP. "But police cracked that too and it was like being able to look over the criminals' shoulders as they were sending messages in real time," he said.