Australian and New Zealand authorities announced on Tuesday that Interpol, in collaboration with security agencies from dozens of countries, conducted what is described as "the most advanced operation in the world" to combat organized crime globally, noting that hundreds were arrested in Australia and New Zealand alone due to this achievement.
The Australian Federal Police stated in a release that a coalition of law enforcement agencies from various countries managed to access an application used by the world of organized crime, allowing police to view their encrypted messages and subsequently execute these arrests.
The release explained that this operation, dubbed "Operation Ironside" in Australia and "Operation Trojan Shield" worldwide, has successfully dismantled thousands of encrypted communications among criminal networks since its launch three years ago, indicating that 224 people were arrested in Australia alone.
Meanwhile, New Zealand police described this international security operation as "the most advanced in the world against organized crime to date." They added that the number of arrests in the country amounted to 35, with charges primarily related to drug trafficking and money laundering.
Law enforcement agencies participating in this coalition, distributed across several European countries, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, managed to intercept a vast number of encrypted messages through an application called "ANoM," which criminals worldwide used for secure communication; however, the FBI actually controlled it.
According to Australian police, the 224 suspects arrested across Australia exchanged messages on this application concerning assassination projects and drug and weapon trafficking. The release added that "hundreds of people were arrested" outside of Australia.
The Australian police indicated that this application was downloaded onto mobile phones sold on the black market and could only perform the one function of using this application. Such phones could only connect to other similar phones that contained the same application.
The Australian police release stated that "a criminal had to know another criminal to obtain this device." It added that these "devices became widespread and gained popularity among criminals, who trusted the application's legitimacy because prominent figures in organized crime vouched for its integrity."
The statement quoted Australian police chief Reece Kershaw, saying, “These influencers in the crime world put the Australian Federal Police in the pockets of hundreds of suspects.” He added, "They bound each other's hands by relying on the application, trusting it, and communicating through it openly, without knowing that we were listening to them the entire time."
