'What's the price today?': FBI phone app reaped secrets of global drug networks

The FBI collected some 27 million messages between criminal organisations over the three years it ran an encrypted messaging service, which criminals thought was secure from law enforcement. — AP Photo

One drug trafficker texted another that he had a "job" and a proven way to get it done: two kilograms of cocaine from Bogota using the French embassy's protected diplomatic pouch.

The pair were straightforward, because they were using the newest, safest mode of communicating: a special-purpose, highly encrypted, messaging-only cellphone called ANOM that operated on a closed network.