Slovakian Admin of Dark Web Kingdom Market Jailed for 16 Years in US

A Slovakian administrator tied to the dark web Kingdom Market received a 16 year US prison sentence for drug trafficking and cybercrime activity...

‘Narco-Submarine’ Carrying 4 Tons of Cocaine Captured by Mexico's Navy

Following increased surveillance and patrols of routes used by transnational drug-trafficking networks, Mexican authorities have seized approximately 10 tons of cocaine in the past week alone...

Europol Arrests 34 Black Axe Members in Spain Over €5.9M Fraud and Organized Crime

Europol on Friday announced the arrest of 34 individuals in Spain who are alleged to be part of an international criminal organization called Black Axe. As part of an operation conducted by the Spanish National Police, in coordination with the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office and Europol, 28...

President Trump Pardons Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht After 11 Years in Prison

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday granted a "full and unconditional pardon" to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the infamous Silk Road drug marketplace, after spending more than 11 years behind bars. "I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the...

Encrypted messaging service intercepted, 2.3 million messages read by law enforcement

European law enforcement agencies have taken down yet another encrypted messaging service mainly used by criminals. The Matrix encrypted messaging service was an invite-only service which was also marketed under the names Mactrix, Totalsec, X-quantum, or Q-safe. Dutch and French authorities start...

Europol Dismantles Criminal Messaging Service MATRIX in Major Global Takedown

Europol on Tuesday announced the takedown of an invite-only encrypted messaging service called MATRIX that's created by criminals for criminal purposes. The joint operation, conducted by French and Dutch authorities under the moniker Passionflower, comes in the aftermath of an investigation that...

Telegram Agrees to Share User Data With Authorities for Criminal Investigations

In a major policy reversal, the popular messaging app Telegram has announced it will give users' IP addresses and phone numbers to authorities in response to valid legal requests in an attempt to rein in criminal activity on the platform. "We've made it clear that the IP addresses and phone numbe...

Criminal secure messaging system takedown: 6500+ arrests and €900 million+ seized

In 2020, we reported on how law enforcement managed to compromise a secure communications system set up by and for criminals. Now, Europol has published a progress report showing the enormous impact the infiltration of the encrypted communications tool EncroChat made. EncroChat, a company based i...

EncroChat Bust Leads to 6,558 Criminals' Arrests and €900 Million Seizure

Europol on Tuesday announced that the takedown of EncroChat in July 2020 led to 6,558 arrests worldwide and the seizure of €900 million in illicit criminal proceeds. The law enforcement agency said that a subsequent joint investigation initiated by French and Dutch authorities intercepted and...

Operation SpecTor: $53.4 Million Seized, 288 Vendors Arrested in Dark Web Drug Bust

An international law enforcement operation has resulted in the arrest of 288 vendors who are believed to be involved in drug trafficking on the dark web, adding to a long list of criminal enterprises that have been shuttered in recent years. The effort, codenamed Operation SpecTor, also saw the...

Bitzlato Crypto Exchange Founder Arrested for Aiding Cybercriminals

The U.S. Department of Justice DoJ on Wednesday announced the arrest of Anatoly Legkodymov aka Gandalf and Tolik, the cofounder of Hong Kong-registered cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato, for allegedly processing $700 million in illicit funds. The 40-year-old Russian national, who was arrested in...

INTERPOL-led Operation Takes Down 'Black Axe' Cyber Crime Organization

The International Criminal Police Organization, also called the Interpol, has announced the arrests of 75 individuals as part of a coordinated global operation against an organized cyber crime syndicate called Black Axe. "'Black Axe' and other West African organized crime groups have developed...

Police seize and dismantle massive phishing operation

Europol has coordinated a joint operation to arrest members of a cybercrime gang and effectively dismantle their campaigns that netted million in Euros. This operation also led the Belgian Police Police Fédérale/Federale Politie and the Dutch Police Politie to nine arrests, 24 house searches, and...

Italian mafia cybercrime sting leads to 100+ arrests

The Spanish National Police Policía Nacional has successfully dismantled an organized crime ring of hundreds of members in a sting operation supported by Europol, the Italian National Police Polizia di Stato, and Eurojust. This is the end result of a year-long investigation. The organized crime...

Europol Busts Major Crime Ring, Arrests Over 100 Online Fraudsters

Law enforcement agencies in Italy and Spain have dismantled an organized crime group linked to the Italian Mafia that was involved in online fraud, money laundering, drug trafficking, and property crime, netting the gang about €10 million $11.7 million in illegal proceeds in just a year. "The...

Feds Secretly Ran a Fake Encrypted Chat App and Busted Over 800 Criminals

In an unprecedented sting operation, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI and Australian Federal Police AFP ran an encrypted chat service called ANoM for nearly three years to intercept 27 million messages exchanged between criminal gang members globally. Dubbed Operation Ironside AFP,...

CEO of Encrypted Chat Platform Indicted for Aiding Organised Criminals

The U.S. Department of Justice DoJ on Friday announced an indictment against Jean-Francois Eap, the CEO of encrypted messaging company Sky Global, and an associate for wilfully participating in a criminal enterprise to help international drug traffickers avoid law enforcement. Eap also known as...

CEO of Encrypted Chat Platform Indicted for Aiding Organised Criminals

The U.S. Department of Justice DoJ on Friday announced an indictment against Jean-Francois Eap, the CEO of encrypted messaging company Sky Global, and an associate for wilfully participating in a criminal enterprise to help international drug traffickers avoid law enforcement. Eap also known as...

Silk Road Admin Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison On Drug Trafficking Charges

An Irish national has been jailed for six-and-a-half years for his role as one of the administrators and forum moderators who helped run now-defunct dark web marketplace "Silk Road." Gary Davis, 31, of Wicklow, Ireland, was known as 'Libertas' on the Silk Road website, then-largest underground...

Silk Road Admin Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison On Drug Trafficking Charges

An Irish national has been jailed for six-and-a-half years for his role as one of the administrators and forum moderators who helped run now-defunct dark web marketplace "Silk Road." Gary Davis, 31, of Wicklow, Ireland, was known as 'Libertas' on the Silk Road website, then-largest underground...