FBI, Europol and Australian agency jointly bust international criminal racket; arrest 800 criminals, seize 32 tonnes of narcotics and arsenal

Washington/Canberra: – In a joint international operation, the US investigation agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Europol and the Australian agencies arrested 800. Huge hauls of arms, cash and luxury cars, and narcotics were seized during the raids conducted across 16 countries. FBI informed that the messaging app ANOM and encrypted smartphones were used during the operation. This is considered to be the biggest operation against the criminal gangs in the last many years.

The concept of using encrypted smartphones was presented after an action carried out by the US investigation agency FBI in 2018. A messaging app and Encrypted smartphones were built with the help of a technician working for the criminal gangs. These smartphones were smartly sold in criminal gangs. The US investigation agency clarified that ‘Operation Trojan Shield’ was carried out on the international level, monitoring and decoding the messages sent through these smartphones. As a result, 800 criminals from 16 countries were arrested under Operation Trojan Shield.

32 tonnes of narcotics were seized during the operation. This includes 8 tonnes of Cocaine, 22 tonnes of Hashish and 2 tonnes of meth. Cash and cryptocurrency worth $48 million also were seized. In addition, more than 250 weapons and 55 luxury cars also have been seized. Nine thousand officials from the FBI, Europol and the Australian Federal Police participated in the operation.

The biggest action under the operation was carried out in Australia; over 200 suspects were rounded up. As per the report published by the Australian police, nearly 3.7 tonnes of narcotics and 104 weapons were seized from Australia. FBI claimed that Operation Trojan Shield has rocked the communication system and the transactions based on them in the organised crime sector. Moreover, this will restrict the efforts to use technology to create façades for the investigation agencies.