Encrypted phone service 'Encrochat' shutdown leads to 6,500 arrests - Europol

General view of the Europol building in The Hague, Netherlands December 12, 2019. REUTERS/Eva Plevier/File Photo

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - European policing agency Europol said on Tuesday that the takedown of Encrochat, an underground company that offered criminals supposedly secure encrypted communications, led to more than 6,500 arrests and 900 million euros ($980 million) in seized assets.

The system had an estimated 60,000 users when it shut down abruptly in June 2020, and Europol revealed the following month that law enforcement officials had been intercepting users' communications for months.