A joint law enforcement operation conducted by Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland cracked another encrypted messaging application. Exclusion used by gangs.
In a press statement, Eurojust said that the February 3 exercises resulted in the arrest of 45 people in Belgium and the Netherlands, among them not only users of the service, but also administrators and owners.
Authorities also launched raids at 79 locations and seized €5.5 million in cash, 300,000 Ecstasy tablets, 20 firearms and 200 phones. In addition, two pharmaceutical laboratories have been closed.
The Exlcu investigation is said to have started in Germany in June 2020. The application had an estimated 3,000 users before its removal, 750 of whom were Dutch speakers.
In its own announcement, Politie noted that it was able to obtain covert access to the service, allowing the institution to read messages sent by users in the past five months.
“Exclu allows you to exchange messages, photos, notes, voice memos, chats and videos with other users,” says Politie. “Exclu is highly rated by owners and managers for its high level of security.”
Offered for €500 for a 3-month license and €900 for a 6-month license key, the developer touts Exclu as “the most sophisticated communication platform” with support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE). increase. The company’s website and Instagram account are still operational at the time of writing.
It also claims to have “integrated the world’s most sophisticated encryption protocols to ensure that no one can access your data.”
“Users of Exclu are considered to be involved in organized crime, in particular drug trafficking,” the German Federal Police said. “The operator of this service has been accused of assisting its customers in committing these crimes using communication channels believed to be secure.”
Exclu’s crackdown follows the dismantling of similar messaging apps such as EncroChat and Sky ECC in 2020 and 2021 for use as criminal havens.
