Police arrested nearly 100 people in FBI-led international crime operation
Finnish authorities made nearly 100 arrests and seized more than 500 kilogrammes of drugs based on intelligence information shared by the FBI. At the centre of the operation was the Anom encrypted application developed by the FBI itself.
3D-printed gun components in Tampere, 145 kilogrammes of marijuana in Helsinki
Helsinki Times reported that Finnish authorities have arrested nearly a hundred people and seized over 500 kilogrammes of narcotics, hundreds of thousands of euros in cash and dozens of firearms as part of a global operation against organised crime.
The National Bureau of Investigation (Keskusrikospoliisi, KRP) confirmed on Tuesday that the arrests and seizures were made possible thanks to intelligence information shared by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The FBI had been covertly monitoring criminal communications on the Anom application for years, which was meant to offer unbreakable encryption and enable criminal activity beyond the reach of authorities. The application grew to serve over 12,000 encrypted devices in more than a hundred countries.
"The FBI has provided Finnish authorities with information on the basis of which proactive criminal investigation could be directed and several preliminary investigations launched," said Kimmo Sainio of the KRP. "The preliminary investigations are related to combating organised crime and in particular drug-related offences."
FBI developed the application to lure criminals
The FBI developed Anom to fill the void left by the dismantling and abandonment of EncroChat and SkyECC. The application attracted criminal networks from around the world as users. The FBI intercepted and processed a total of 27 million messages sent by approximately 12,000 users between October 2019 and June 2021. Intelligence information was shared with partners whenever messages could be linked to a specific country based on language or the user's country of residence.
Operations in Finland were carried out in close cooperation between police districts, the KRP and Customs. One of the most significant results was a raid on the Helsinki metropolitan area involving seizure of 145 kilogrammes of marijuana and automatic weapons — the preliminary investigation has already been concluded and the case referred to the prosecutor for prosecution assessment.
Another example of a successful intervention was a raid on a warehouse near Tampere city centre where gun components were manufactured using 3D printers.
"The amount is extremely large by Finnish standards," said Hannu Sinkkonen, Head of Supervision at Customs, commenting to YLE on Wednesday. "This is altogether a very rare case both in Finland and in Europe."
Operation resulted in 800 arrests in 16 countries
The operation, carried out at the beginning of the week, was led by the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) responsible for combating drugs in the United States, and the police forces of the Netherlands and Sweden. Also involved were 13 other countries, including Finland, and Europol.
Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, Deputy Executive Director of Europol, said on Tuesday that the operation resulted in over 700 house searches and 800 arrests in 16 countries. Among the seized illegal goods are over eight tonnes of cocaine, 22 tonnes of cannabis and cannabis resin, eight tonnes of synthetic drugs or their precursors, and over 48 million United States dollars in various currencies and cryptocurrencies.
Linda Staaf, Head of Intelligence for the Swedish Police, said that intelligence obtained from the application has been used to prevent over ten murders since autumn last year. Australian authorities reported preventing 21 murders.
Calvin Shivers, Assistant Director of the FBI's Criminal Investigation Division, stated that authorities were able to identify over 100 threats to the safety or health of individuals during the 18 months preceding the operation.
Source: Helsinki Times