"French and Dutch law enforcement and judicial authorities, Europol and Eurojust presented the impressive results of a joint investigation team to dismantle EncroChat, an encrypted phone network widely used by criminal networks."
In France, where the operation takes place under the code name "Emma 95", the Gendarmerie has set-up a Taskforce since March 2020.
With more than 60 officers, the Gendarmerie leads the investigations targeting the EncroChat encrypted telephone solution under the supervision of the magistrates of the JIRS of Lille. The Taskforce has been monitoring the communications of thousands of criminals, leading to the opening of a wide range of incidental proceedings.
France does not wish to communicate further on these on-going investigations nor on the results obtained."
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In the Netherlands, where the operation went under the code name “Lemont”, hundreds of investigators have, with authorisation of the examining magistrate, followed the communications of thousands of criminals day and night since the operation began to unravel and act on the intercepted data stream. The criminal investigation has been led by prosecutors from the Dutch National Public Prosecution Service and the information has been made available to about a hundred ongoing criminal investigations.
The investigation has so far led to the arrest of 60 suspects, the seizure of drugs (more than 10 000 kilo cocaine, 70 kilo heroin, 12 000 kilo cannabis, 1 500 kilo crystal meth and 160 000 liter of a substance used to produce synthetic drugs), the dismantling of 19 synthetic drugs labs, the seizure of dozens of (automatic) fire weapons, expensive watches and 25 cars, including vehicles with hidden compartments, and almost EUR 20 million in cash.
The expectation is that information will be made available in more than 300 investigations. In a number of cases, more arrests are very likely to follow in the coming period."
" A large number of suspects have also been arrested in several countries which were not participating in the JIT but particularly affected by the illegal use of these phones by individuals active in organised crime, including in the UK,
Sweden and Norway. Many of these investigations were connected with international drug trafficking and violent criminal activities."
http://www.eurojust.europa.eu/press/...20-07-02b.aspx
