An encrypted communication app popular with organized crime groups (OGCs) was taken down by European police late last week after years of investigation.
According to Eurojust, an estimated 3,000 users used Exclu to hide their communications from law enforcement.
A long-running investigation began in Germany in June 2020 and was soon joined by Dutch cybercrime experts. It appears that they used their technical know-how to track app users for five months before dismantling the service.
Last week’s day of action saw the deployment of 1,200 police officers, the dismantling of two drug labs and the seizure of €5.5 million ($5.9 million) in cash, 300,000 ecstasy tablets and 20 firearms. , 200 phones were seized. These are analyzed for further evidence.
Police in the Netherlands and Belgium have arrested 45 people, including suspected users of the app and its administrators and owners. Additionally, 79 locations were searched in the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland.
Exclu’s operator apparently charged users €800 ($858) for a six-month license to use the service, which runs from a server in Germany. According to Eurojust, users appreciate its security and reliability.
The app’s demise comes after similar platforms met the same fate. was based in
After a spate of arrests in 2020, police are still trying to bring the case of an OGC member who was able to unmask thanks to information gleaned from covert surveillance of users prior to deletion. increase.
Another app, Sky ECC, was estimated to have had 70,000 global users when it was torn down. Investigators were able to eavesdrop on its servers, access hundreds of millions of chats, and sabotage over 100 of her planned criminal activities in EU member states and elsewhere.
