Video: 800 arrested worldwide in 'watershed' organised crime sting

The Hague - The operation resulted in the seizure of more than 8 tonnes of cocaine.

Police arrested 800 people in a huge global sting involving encrypted phones used by criminals that were secretly planted by law enforcement agencies, the EU police agency Europol said on Tuesday.

“This information led over the last week to hundreds of law enforcement operations on a global scale from New Zealand to Australia to Europe and the USA, with impressive results,” Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, Deputy Director Operations at Europol, told a press conference.

“More than 800 arrests, more than 700 locations searched, more than 8 tonnes of cocaine.”

US and Australian authorities hacked into an app used by criminals to read millions of encrypted messages, leading to hundreds of arrests of suspected organised crime figures in 18 countries, Australian officials said.

"Operation Ironside" by Australian police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation ensnared suspects in Australia, Asia, South America and the Middle East involved in the global narcotics trade, the officials said.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the operation "struck a heavy blow against organised crime – not just in this country, but one that will echo around organised crime around the world".

"This is a watershed moment in Australian law enforcement history," Morrison told reporters in Sydney.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said police raids in 18 countries netted hundreds of suspects. Europol and the FBI said on social media they would hold news conferences later on Tuesday.

Australia said it had arrested 224 people, including members of outlawed motorcycle gangs, while New Zealand said it had detained 35 people.

The operation, which was conceived by Australian police and the FBI in 2018, saw officials in the United States take control of the An0m messaging app, which is popular with organised crime networks.

When an Australian underworld figure began distributing customised phones containing the app to his associates as a secure means to communicate, police could monitor their messages. The gangs believed the system was secure because the phones did not have any other capabilities - no voice or camera functions were loaded - and the app was encrypted.

"We have been in the back pockets of organised crime," Kershaw said at the same media briefing. "All they talk about is drugs, violence, hits on each other, innocent people who are going to be murdered."