{"id":47,"date":"2019-07-02T16:03:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T16:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firwl.qantumthemes.xyz\/installer\/?p=47"},"modified":"2020-07-02T17:47:19","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T17:47:19","slug":"news-article-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourabs.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/02\/news-article-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds arrested as encrochat cracked by nca"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A top-secret communications system used by criminals to trade drugs and guns has been “successfully penetrated”, says the National Crime Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCA worked with forces across Europe on the UK’s “biggest and most significant” law enforcement operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major crime figures were among over 800 Europe-wide arrests after messages on EncroChat were intercepted and decoded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than two tonnes of drugs, several dozen guns and \u00a354m in suspect cash have been seized, says the NCA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image source: Essex Police<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While the NCA was part of the investigation, it was initiated and led by French and Dutch police, and also involved Europol – the EU agency for law enforcement cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wil van Gemert, deputy executive director of Europol, told a press conference in the Hague that the hacking of the network had allowed the “disruption of criminal activities including violent attacks, corruption, attempted murders and large-scale drug transports”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the details<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The NCA says the Europe-wide operation, which lasted over three months and involved police forces across the UK, has had the biggest impact on organised crime gangs it has ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, whose force made 171 of the 746 UK arrests and seized \u00a313.3m in cash, described it as a “game changer”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said: “This is just the beginning. We will be disrupting organised criminal networks as a result of these operations for weeks and months and possibly years to come.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nikki Holland, NCA director of investigations, said the operational team had described it “as akin to cracking the enigma code”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They see this as that significant in terms of getting that inside information, effectively having a person inside an organised crime group telling us what they’re up to,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Criminal marketplace’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An estimated 60,000 people, among them up to 10,000 in Britain, subscribed to France-based EncroChat, which has now been taken down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system operated on customised Android phones and, according to its website, provided “worry-free secure communications”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customers had access to features such as self-destructing messages that deleted from the recipient’s device after a certain length of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gallery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n