David Montagné, edited by Romain Rouillard 9:11 a.m., June 27, 2022, modified at 9:11 a.m., June 27, 2022
Many drug traffickers communicate via EncroChat encrypted messaging, which Europol and the police services of several countries, including France, have managed to penetrate.
Several criminals, including the designer of the application, have thus fallen into the hands of justice.
It's a big crack in the tortuous world of drug trafficking.
According to our information, 5,000 people were arrested in 42 different countries, including nearly 300 high-level traffickers, and a wave of arrests took place last week, particularly in Dubai, the Netherlands and Spain.
This still provisional assessment is the result of the technical prowess of the French gendarmes who succeeded, four years ago, in penetrating the system of this EncroChat encrypted messaging system.
The "WhatsApp of drug traffickers"
This is an application that specialists call "the WhatsApp of drug traffickers".
More than 90% of its users are dealers who use it for their transactions.
In France, more than 70 surveys have been opened and 500 users geolocated.
Hundreds of kilos of cannabis were seized, nearly a hundred weapons and tens of thousands of euros in cash.
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The first convictions have already fallen, notably in Bordeaux last March.
Investigators have unmasked a convoy of narcotics from Belgium in full confinement.
This EncroChat case is one of the most emblematic in terms of cybercrime.
The authorities estimate that 1.500 billion dollars the turnover made each year by criminals via this application.