Europol mapped a criminal network by analyzing encrypted comms – and then seized an entire hotel while busting a multi-million euro laundering ring
- Messages obtained from a cracked E2EE service used to eliminate a criminal gang
- Sky ECC Service still provides information, four years after being closed
- A hotel, property, species and vehicles were seized in the operation
Europol has carried out several raids against a prolific network of organized crime involved in cocaine trafficking and bleached money.
The raids led to the arrest of 10 suspects and to the entry of an entire tourist hotel, as well as many other real estate sites and more than € 100,000 ($ 116,106) in cash.
But the secrecy of the success of the operation stems from the analysis of the encrypted communications of a discussion network which closed more than four years ago.
Communication network analysis
The encrypted communication network in question is the Sky ECC network operated by Sky Global.
The network was closed by the police in 2021 due to the use of the platform by international criminal organizations to facilitate drug trafficking. The accusation acts and arrest warrants were issued to the CEO of Sky Global, Jean-François Eap, and a former distributor, Thomas Herdman.
In addition to seizure of the website, the police have also confiscated a mine of hundreds of millions of messages sent between thousands of criminals using the Sky ECC application, which protected its messages with an elliptical curve cryptography. These messages are still used by Europol in Operation Sky ECC and the limit of operational force.
Europol has launched many later repressions against criminal organizations across Europe using metadata analysis from the message of the message.
In this particular operation of Europol, led by the Albanian spak, the investigators of Albania, Belgium, France and the Netherlands used communication data to identify the location of multiple deliveries of cocaine from South America to the EU ports, for which a target of the operation received more than $ 40 million. The delivery ports included main hubs such as Antwerp and Rotterdam.
The suspects arrested were the head of the criminal organization, who was also wanted in Italy for murder, deprivation of freedom, attempted hiding place of a corpse, threats, illegal possession of explosives and ammunition as well as for obstruction of justice.
This operation, and the case of Sky ECC, highlights the thin line between the use of encrypted communications to ensure data confidentiality and prevent the overcoming of businesses or government, and abuse data confidentiality to exploit an international criminal ring responsible for drug trafficking and the laundering of hundreds of millions of euros.
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