Operation Dark Phone: What was EncroChat and how was the mobile network used to take down gangs?
Channel 4 aired the first episode of the four-part series on Sunday, July 27, with episodes released over the next three evenings.
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Channel 4's new documentary aired on Sunday July 27
Credit: Getty
What was EncroChat?
The documentary, Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text, details how international authorities managed to investigate a criminal messaging network.
It was one of the largest providers of encrypted communications, used by 60,000 users worldwide, and around 10,000 users in the UK and offered a secure mobile phone instant messaging service.
The sole use was for coordinating and planning the distribution of illicit commodities, money laundering and plotting to kill rival criminals.
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The phones cost up approximately £1,600 to buy, according to Sky News, and were modified Android devices.
The encrypted phone industry generally advertises its phones as capable of resisting lawful attempts to gain access to their contents - either in the face of attacks or through police monitoring.
What's more,
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EncroChat had over 60,000 users worldwide
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How did it take down gangs?
Most read in The Sun
From 2016, the National Crime Agency (NCA) had been working with international law enforcement to target EncroChat, and in 2020, they managed to infiltrate the platform.
A breakthrough in the operation came in January 2020 when the French developed a hack, whereby a software update – actually spyware – would be sent to all phones on the platform.
Once updated, the gangs unknowingly gave agencies unprecedented access to organised crime gangs' secret communications.
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What was the outcome?
In 2020, authorities arrested 746 suspected
top-tier criminals
who were believed to be involved in murder, gun smuggling and drug trafficking crimes, and seized £54m in cash and 1.5 tonnes of cocaine.
Similar operations have been carried out across Europe, as a result of intelligence gleaned from police's access to millions of messages sent using the encrypted messaging network over the past five months.
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The investigation took four years to undertake
Credit: PA
According to NCA data, over 2,200 people have been convicted as part of
Operation Venetic
.
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Nearly 8,000 kilos of cocaine
.
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After the investigation, police were able to seize various illicit objects
Credit: PA
The operation has also resulted in 175 firearms being seized and, during the 10-week activity period, 200 threats to life being prevented.
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