Ongoing prosecutions worldwide
EncroChat
How police cracked the criminal underworld's secret phone network
3 suspects5 events3 locations2016 - present
// intel brief
EncroChat was an encrypted phone network used by over 60,000 criminals worldwide. In 2020, French and Dutch police secretly infiltrated the platform, intercepting over 100 million messages in real-time. The intelligence gathered led to thousands of arrests across Europe, seizure of hundreds of tonnes of drugs, firearms, and hundreds of millions in criminal assets. It was the largest law enforcement operation in European history and exposed the inner workings of drug cartels, assassination plots, and money laundering networks.
// timeline
2016EncroChat launches as encrypted communication platform for criminals
2020-04French police install interception tool on EncroChat servers in Roubaix
2020-06EncroChat sends warning to users - platform compromised. 100M+ messages already intercepted
2020-07Massive wave of arrests across Europe - hundreds detained in first weeks
2021Sky ECC - similar encrypted network - also cracked by Belgian police
// key locations
Roubaix, France
Server location
The Hague
Dutch investigation HQ
Europol, The Hague
Coordination center
// operation map
// key figures
EncroChat Usersstatus_unknown
Network of 60,000+ criminals | Global
Over 60,000 users worldwide, with highest concentration in Netherlands, UK, Spain, and France. Users paid EUR 1,500 per device for 6 months.
EncroChat BVstatus_unknown
Platform operator | NL
Company registered in the Netherlands. Operated servers in France. Provided modified Android phones with encrypted messaging.
Joint Investigation Teamstatus_unknown
French/Dutch police operation | FR/NL
Joint French-Dutch investigation team that infiltrated EncroChat servers in Roubaix, France, installing a technical tool to intercept all communications in real-time.
// other files
Marengo
The trial that exposed the heart of Dutch organized crime
The Cocaine Route
How billions in cocaine flows from South America to European streets
Mocro Maffia
The rise of Dutch-Moroccan organized crime networks in Europe
Port Wars
The battle for Europe's cocaine gateways - Rotterdam vs Antwerp
Rif Connection
Morocco's Rif Mountains - the world's largest hashish production zone
Isaac "Boom" B.
From Katendrecht to cocaine kingpin - the rise and fall of Black Mamba
Taghi Dynasty
How Ridouan Taghi ran a criminal empire from the most secure prison in the Netherlands
Sky ECC
The crack of the century - how Belgian police broke the criminal underworld's encrypted phone network
Taghi's Hitman
The rise and fall of Gerel P. - Ridouan Taghi's most trusted assassin, from Utrecht to a Brazilian prison cell
Audi Gang
Dutch ATM bombers terrorizing Germany - high-speed Audis, explosives, and a trail of destruction across the border
The Invisible Baron
The shadowy rise and violent world of Peter van D, Limburg's unseen drug lord.
The Cocaine War
How the theft of 1,400 kg of cocaine from Antwerp ignited a six-week war across the Netherlands
The Helicopter Escape
Benaouf Adaoui - the man who ignited the Mocro War and planned one of the Netherlands' most spectacular prison escapes
Antwerp Drug War
How Europe's second port became a warzone between rival cocaine clans
Kompania Bello
The Albanian cocaine federation run from behind prison bars in Ecuador
keywords
encrochat / encrypted / phone / pgp / sky ecc / anom