Australia Arrests Dozens Over App Allegedly Used By Criminals Worldwide

Authorities charge 32-year-old Sydney man over Ghost network allegedly used by criminal gangs in multiple countries.

Australian police have arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of developing and operating an encrypted messaging app used by organised crime groups around the world to smuggle drugs and weapons, launder money and commit murder.

Jay Je Yoon Jung appeared in court in Sydney on Wednesday charged with setting up the Ghost messaging platform, which authorities allege was “built solely for the criminal underworld”.

Jung is charged with five counts, including supporting a criminal organization and benefiting from the proceeds of crime.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a statement that Jung sold modified smartphones for A$2,350 ($1,600) each, including a six-month network subscription and technical support.

Ghost was developed in 2017 and has been used by “hundreds of criminals” in Italy, the Middle East and South Korea, as well as Australia, police said.

According to AFP, 38 suspects have been arrested across Australia in recent days, while authorities carried out near-simultaneous raids in Ireland, Italy, Sweden and Canada.

According to police, about 50 people in Australia have been charged with using Ghost.

According to AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney, Operation Kraken saw 25 illegal weapons seized, 50 threats against people foiled and the import of more than 200kg of illegal drugs prevented.

“Disabling specially encrypted communications devices requires significant skill,” McCartney said in a statement.

“But the holy grail is always penetrating criminal platforms to gain access to evidence – and in this the AFP is leading the world.”

Colonel Florian Manet, head of the French Interior Ministry’s technical wing, the National Cyber Command, said his team had provided “technical means” to help their Australian counterparts infiltrate the network.

“A technical solution was implemented over several years that eventually allowed the task force to access users’ communications on this secure platform,” Manet said in the statement released by AFP.

The infiltration of the Ghost network comes three years after the FBI used ANOM, an encrypted messaging app developed by the US law enforcement agency, as a Trojan horse to secure the arrests of 800 criminal suspects in 16 countries.