Global sting: Secure FBI-run messaging network tricks crooks

The ANoM app appears on the screen of a smartphone in Paris, on June 8, 2021. - Some 250 people were arrested in Sweden and Finland in the global sting on organised crime, authorities said on June 8, 2021, using phones planted by the US FBI, law enforcement officers were able to read the messages of global underworld figures in around 100 countries as they plotted drug deals, arms transfers and gangland hits on the compromised ANOM devices. — AP

THE HAGUE: Criminal gangs divulged plans for moving drug shipments and carrying out killings on a secure messaging system secretly run by the FBI, law enforcement agencies said Tuesday, as they unveiled a global sting operation they said dealt an "unprecedented blow” to organised crime in countries around the world.

The operation known as Trojan Shield led to police raids in 16 nations. More than 800 suspects were arrested and more than 32 tons of drugs – including cocaine, cannabis, amphetamines and methamphetamines – were seized along with 250 firearms, 55 luxury cars and more than US$148mil (RM609mil) in cash and cryptocurrencies.