Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
» CRIME CUTTERS
Hundreds of 25 searches arrests in UK across Ulster
SUSPECTED criminals in Northern Ireland are among hundreds of people arrested across the UK after crimefighters cracked open an encrypted phone network.
The Encrochat system allowed people with specially designed handsets to send messages which could not be seen by law enforcement agencies.
But experts in France and the Netherlands managed to break the encryption, lifting the lid on a vast criminal underworld spanning Europe and beyond.
The wealth of material uncovered was then shared with police forces including the PSNI, as well as the National Crime Agency, which co-ordinated a UK crackdown on gangsters involved in a range of criminality such as the importation of drugs and weapons.
In Northern Ireland alone there have been 25 searches, 15 Encrochat phones and £360,000 in cash seized and drugs and “high value” vehicles lifted.
The PSNI said five people have been charged with 44 offences including conspiracy to murder.
Across the UK, the NCA said the seized material includes:
£54million plus in criminal cash
77 firearms, including an AK47 assault rifle, sub machine guns, handguns, four grenades and more than 1,800 rounds of ammunition
In excess of two tonnes of Class A and B drugs
Over 28 million Etizolam pills (street Valium) from an illicit laboratory, and
55 high value cars and 73 luxury watches.
The NCA said it has “prevented rival gangs carrying out kidnappings and executions on the UK’S streets by successfully mitigating over 200 threats to life” and that “police forces have punched huge holes in the UK organised crime network”.
The agency said “so far” 746 suspects have been arrested.
Both the NCA and PSNI have indicated that more arrests are to come as the information lifted from the phones is analysed.
As soon as the people behind Encrochat realised their encryption had been compromised a message was sent out telling users to destroy the handsets.
The PSNI’S Det Chief Supt Andrew Freeburn said the operation, called Venetic, is “one of the most significant investigations into serious and organised criminality conducted by our police service in collaboration with law enforcement partners across Europe and internationally”.
DCS Freeburn added: “I’m really proud to tell you about the role that the Police Service of Northern Ireland have played in this.
We all know that serious and organised criminals pose a significant risk of harm to the people of Northern Ireland.
“They are responsible for bringing in drugs and firearms into our communities and deal in fear and exploitation which can bring misery to many. “This has been the largest and most significant law enforcement operation ever mounted in the United Kingdom in the fight against organised crime groups.
“The organised crime groups thought that by using encrypted technology they could fly below the radar of law enforcement. However, this operation should send a clear message that the combined strength of PSNI working with our law enforcement partners that no one is beyond the reach of the law.
“Over the past couple of months, detectives have worked tirelessly with our partners in the National Crime Agency and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in reviewing this material and assessing what criminal offences have been committed.”
The PSNI said material seized includes “2.5kgs of suspected cannabis and cocaine” as well as three high-value vehicles and “numerous pieces of documentation, laptops, a number of items of jewellery and designer handbags”.
Police said that they have “mitigated over 15 threats to life during the operation”. DCS Freeburn added:
“We have secured evidence to prosecute a significant number of known criminals who thought they were beyond our reach. In Northern Ireland we have charged five people, four of whom have all been remanded in custody and one on High Court bail.
“The 44 charges range from conspiracy to commit murder, possession of significant amounts of criminal property, various drugs offences involving Class A and Class B drugs including conspiracy to import and also being concerned in the supply.
“And there will more to come as we continue to disrupt this criminal network operating here in Northern Ireland who have links to criminals both nationally and internationally.”
This should send a clear message that no one is beyond the reach of the law DET CHIEF SUPT ANDREW FREEBURN LEFT, YESTERDAY
NCA Deputy Director of Investigations for Northern Ireland, Craig Naylor, said Operation Venetic is “unprecedented across Northern Ireland, the UK and Europe”.
He added: “By working together we have penetrated organised criminal networks who thought they were untouchable by seizing significant amounts of criminal cash, stopping firearms and drugs reaching our streets to protect people.”
There were 60,000 Encrochat users worldwide and around 10,000 users in the UK, according to the NCA who said its “sole use was for co-ordinating and planning the distribution of illicit commodities, money laundering and plotting to kill rival criminals”.
Since 2016 the agency has been working with international law enforcement agencies to “target Encrochat and other encrypted criminal communication platforms by sharing technical expertise and intelligence”.
Two months ago, the NCA said, “this collaboration resulted in partners in France and the Netherlands infiltrating the platform”. and data harvested shared via Europol.
The agency said:
“Unbeknown to users the NCA and police have been monitoring their every move since then under Operation Venetic – the UK law enforcement response.”
The agency describes the phones as “having pre-loaded apps for instant messaging, the ability to make VOIP calls and a kill code which wipes them remotely” and cost around £1,500 for a six-month contract.
Once material had been lifted from the phones, intelligence packages’ were sent to NCA operational teams, PSNI, Police Scotland, Metropolitan Police, Border Force, the Prison Service, and HMRC “to develop and launch investigations”.
One PSNI source told the Mirror
Encrochat “was a platform where criminals felt safe communicating”.
The source added that intelligence gleaned from the messages will “probably redefine” police understanding of crime groups in Northern Ireland.
The Mirror was on the scene as tactical support, detectives and forensics swooped at an address in Newry on Monday evening.
It is understood the man they were seeking was not there.
But officers, wearing masks and protective clothing photographed the outside of the home in a quiet cul-de-sac, while numerous boxes of evidence gathering equipment was carried inside.
We penetrated organised crime networks who thought they were untouchable CRAIG NAYLOR LEFT, YESTERDAY