Encrochat Take-Down Led to 6,500 Arrests, Nearly $100 Million in Seized Assets
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Europol announced that the takedown of Encrochat, an underground company that offered criminals supposedly secure encrypted communications, led to more than 6,500 arrests and 900 million euros ($980 million) in seized assets.
The system had an estimated 60,000 users when it shut down abruptly in June 2020, and Europol revealed the following month that law enforcement officials had been intercepting users' communications for months.
Police have analyzed more than 115 million "criminal conversations,” Europol said, helping prevent "violent attacks, attempted murders, corruption, and large scale drugs transports."
The agency said investigations spawned by the takedown have led to the seizure of 100 tonnes of cocaine, 30 million pills of "chemical drugs,” nearly a thousand vehicles, hundreds of properties, and dozens of boats and plan…
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