Authorities Crack Ghost ECC Encrypted Messages Used by Mafia, Bikers, Drug Traffickers ~ Borderland Beat

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To infiltrate Ghost, the AFP, which launched Operation Kraken, had to develop a virus-like program and install it on the Administrator’s computers.

Europol said the app had thousands of users worldwide and that around 1,000 messages were exchanged each day. Europol deputy director Jean-Philippe Lecouffe said the operation had taken out “a tool that was a lifeline for serious and organised crime”.

He said the police were committed to building a system that respects privacy while upholding fairness. But private companies had “a responsibility to ensure that their platforms do not become playgrounds for criminals.”

“This instrument enabled drug trafficking, arms trafficking, extreme violence and money laundering on an industrial scale,” he said.

According to police, Ghost was used almost exclusively by criminals.

“Given the many months over which the communications have been intercepted and the hundreds of thousands of times they have been intercepted, we have no evidence that they have been used by anyone other than criminal organisations,” said Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner David McLean.

So far, 51 people have been arrested in connection with the operation, most of them in Australia (38). 11 people were arrested in Ireland, one in Canada and one in Italy. It was a member of the Italian mafia group “Sacra Corona Unita”.

As of September 17, the AFP claims there were 376 active devices in Australia. The alleged mastermind behind Ghost has been charged by the AFP. The NSW man is 32 and is accused of creating and operating Ghost.

Operation Kraken

The system was infiltrated as part of a joint operation, ‘Operation Kraken’, involving the FBI, the Australian Federal Police, the Canadian Mounted Police, the French National Gendarmerie and the Irish Garda Síochána. Authorities in Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden were also involved.

Australia’s Fake Terror Plot

A drug lab was dismantled in Australia and weapons, drugs and more than €1 million in cash were seized worldwide. A fake terror plot was also uncovered.

An Australian-based criminal group reportedly communicated via an encrypted mobile app to organise drug imports and devise a fake terrorism plot between March and April 2024.

Guy Habkouk, accused of drug trafficking, is said to have used Ghost to obtain machine guns, bombs, hand grenades, rocket launchers and flags with terrorist symbols.

Habkouk is said to have used the Ghost phone from a maximum-security prison where he is awaiting trial for allegedly importing a huge amount of heroin. His goal, police allege, was to obtain the dangerous weapons and enlist others in a terror plot.

Habkouk would then alert authorities and make a deal for a shorter sentence or even freedom in exchange for the confiscation of the weapons, AFP sources said.

In addition to the bogus plot, he attempted to smuggle 42 kilograms of cocaine into Sydney, concealed in refrigerated shipping containers. Australian Border Force (ABF) officers, acting on intelligence from AFP, intercepted the shipment on April 3, 2024, and discovered 42 packages of cocaine.

Habkouk and a colleague were charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. He was also charged with attempted cocaine importation.

Guy Habkouk lived and worked abroad undetected for the past three years before being arrested by Turkish police in 2023.
The syndicate is further accused of trafficking various illegal drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine, cannabis and MDMA. Runners are alleged to have been used to transport drugs from Sydney to Inverell, with money from drug sales being sent back to Sydney.

Members of the group were involved in two online groups. The first online group, called “Flower Power,” allegedly smuggled and coordinated a plot to possess $170,000 worth of cocaine.

The second online group, known as ‘Pot Run Operations’, is believed to have trafficked more than 125kg of cannabis between February 2023 and July 2024, making more than $500,000.

AFP and NSW Police conducted simultaneous raids in several suburbs including North Rocks, Regents Park, Hassall Grove, Kellyville, Kellyville Ridge, Quakers Hill and Inverell. The following items were seized during the searches.

  • 6 encrypted devices
  • 200 kilograms of drugs (of which 42 kilograms of cocaine)
  • 25 firearms
  • $19,785 cash
  • 6 arrests
  • 50 Threats to Kill/Harm Prevented

Ireland

Irish Gardaí targeted four criminal gangs in Ireland involved in drug trafficking and money laundering. The country had the second largest Ghost user base after Australia. A total of 33 searches were carried out by 300 gardaí, with 27 searches carried out last Monday as part of a coordinated international day of action, which also yielded:

  • 2 cryptocurrency keys
  • 27 laptops
  • 42 Ghost ECC Encoded Devices
  • 126 other mobile devices
  • 200 SIM cards
  • 6 Rolex watches
  • 2021 Range Rover
  • €16 million worth of drugs (including 100 kilos of cocaine)

Underworld Tools versus Right to Privacy

WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram are part of a crowded field of apps that market themselves on the privacy of their chats. While their services are legal, some of their content is not.

Europol indicated that it continues to prioritize the fight against encrypted communication technologies used by criminals, while advocating a balanced approach that respects the right to privacy and upholds legal standards.

Authorities, as well as private companies that want to ensure that their services are used in accordance with the law, also have an important role to play. They must ensure that their platforms are not safe havens for criminals and must provide mechanisms for lawful access to data under judicial supervision and with full respect for fundamental rights.

The founder of Telegram, which offers some encrypted services but is not private by default, was recently arrested in France for allowing criminal content on its platform.

Several other major apps have been taken offline in similar operations in recent years. EncroChat was a service that was reportedly used almost exclusively by criminals and, like Ghost, came with specially modified phones. When it was taken offline, police said criminals switched to Sky ECC, which was subsequently dismantled.

Three years ago, another service, ANOM, was taken offline and hundreds were arrested. But the twist in the tail was that ANOM was set up and run by the FBI from the start.

Police said at a news conference Tuesday that Ghost is not as large and widespread as these other services and that the landscape for encrypted apps has become “fragmented.”

“For us, size is not the most important thing,” says Lecouffe. “Sometimes the smaller networks get the most important criminals and the most interesting information.”

Sources BBC, Europol, RTE, RTE, Australia Today, AFP, AFP, AFP, SMH, The Age, ABC
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