European police take down Encryption services used by criminals in 5 countries

 

Dutch & French police take down Matrix encrypted

chat app; 2.3 million messages captured

Dutch and French authorities have cracked another encrypted communication service that criminals allegedly used to communicate with each other. The service, named Matrix, was the successor to previously cracked services such as ANOM, Sky ECC, and EncroChat. Police were able to intercept over 2.3 million messages and were able to read along with conversations for months.

The police were made aware of the service after the murder of Peter R. de Vries in July 2021. A phone was found in the getaway car with the encrypted messaging service on it.

The messages that were intercepted are linked to serious crimes such as “ international drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and money laundering,” according to a statement by Interpol.

Two suspects were arrested at the Netherlands' request in Marbella, Spain. One of them is allegedly the owner of the service, a 52-year-old man from Lithuania. A 30-year-old from the Netherlands was also arrested. He used the service and is also suspected of international cocaine trafficking in 2020.

In addition, six houses were searched in Spain, and a villa worth 15 million euros was seized. Half a million euros in cryptocurrency and 145,000 euros in cash were also seized. Furthermore, four vehicles and more than 970 telephones were taken. Searches were also carried out at six locations in Lithuania.

Dutch police said the Matrix app was targeted along with similar encrypted services known by the names Mactrix, Totalsex, X-quantum and Q-Safe. The investigation did not spotlight the similarly-named Matrix open source communication protocol.

The police had already taken down various comparable services in the past. In 2016, servers belonging to Ennetcom in Canada were seized. This was followed by PGP-SAFE, IronChat, and EncroChat.

Investigate services made a big impact when they took down SKY ECC, a service with 70,000 users, 11,000 of those being Dutch citizens, in 2021. The services ANOM and Ghost were also taken down after this.

Police say that Matrix was more complex than its predecessors and more international. Detectives saw messages in 33 languages during the investigation. The service was controlled from Spain, while most users were in Southern Europe.

Matrix’s infrastructure consisted of more than 40 servers, with the most important of these being in France and Germany.

Detectives from the Netherlands, France, Lithuania, Italy, and Spain took part in the investigation.

Reporting by ANP and NL Times

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FARC's Final Weapons Removed 'in Last Breath' of Colombia Conflict

The western hemisphere's longest running war, unless you count American, confederate, white-supremacists, has finally been brought to an end. And just in time for its previously peaceful and prosperous South American neighbour to start a civil war. Nothing good can come of the direction Venezuela has been heading under Maduro, but, at least, there is good progress in Colombia.

Well done, president Santos!

By Andrew V. Pestano  

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos waves at a trucker removing a container of FARC weapons from a disarmament zone on Tuesday. Photo courtesy Juan Manuel Santos

UPI -- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said the last remaining weapons belonging to revolutionary rebels have been surrendered under the supervision of the United Nations, and will be smelted into peace monuments.

The weapons removal marks a monumental step in the peace process between Bogota and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which had fought for a half-century. The last weapons container was taken out from the Pondores "reincorporation zone" in Colombia's La Guajira province.

"We are more optimistic because the impossible was fulfilled: departure of last container with FARC arms makes its disarmament definitive," Santos said in a statement Tuesday. "Today Colombia is a country without FARC, with presence of the government in the whole territory and opportunities like never before."

"We have just witnessed the final exit of containers with weapons in La Guajira: the last breath of the conflict with the FARC," he added. "Departure of the last container with weapons in peace zones puts an end to the abandonment of arms and [reincorporation] zones, and it initiates a new stage for Colombia."

The rebel group plans to become a fully functioning political party once the disarmament process ends. Key leader Iván Márquez said the former armed guerrilla group will maintain the use of its FARC acronym.

Most FARC members are being housed in so-called "reincorporation zones," in which the Colombian government and non-governmental organizations will help transition the ex-militants into civilian life. Santos' government will use the National Learning Service agency to educate the former militants.

More than 220,000 people died and 5 million were displaced during the Colombian conflict, which began after FARC's Marxist-inspired founding in 1964. The militant rebel group was involved in drug trafficking, kidnapping and other illicit activity to fund the insurgency. Peace talks between Bogota and FARC started in Cuba in 2012.

Officials said FARC's weapons will be smelted into peace monuments that will be displayed in Bogota, New York City and Havana, Cuba.

Mexico Captures Sinaloa Cartel Leader 'El Licenciado'

Another significant arrest in Mexico's war on drug cartels

By Andrew V. Pestano 

Dámaso "El Licenciado" López Núñez, a leader of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán's Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested early Tuesday by Mexican security forces in Mexico City.

Photo courtesy Mexico Attorney General's Office

UPI -- Mexico's attorney general said security forces captured Dámaso "El Licenciado" López Núñez, a leader of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán's Sinaloa Cartel.

López Núñez, whom forces captured early Tuesday in Mexico City's Anzures neighborhood, is the presumed successor of Guzmán after the Sinaloa Cartel kingpin was arrested. The Attorney General's Office, or PGR, said no shots were fired.

López Núñez is wanted in the United States on drug trafficking charges. The PGR said he was arrested along with several others.

Radio Formula reported López Núñez's whereabouts were determined after he was seen dining in a Mexico City restaurant with a hacker.

Guzmán's Sinaloa Cartel is credited with dominating the illegal drug market in nearly the entire United States. "El Chapo" -- meaning "The Short One" or "shorty" -- so dubbed because of his 5-foot-6-inch frame, was detained in Guatemala in 1993 and then extradited to Mexico to face murder and drug trafficking charges.

He escaped from prison in 2001 by hiding in a laundry cart after bribing prison guards, and was re-captured in February 2014. He was captured a second time in the city of Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa on Jan. 8, 2016, after escaping from Mexico's Altiplano Federal Prison on July 11, 2015.

López Núñez is accused of organizing Guzmán's 2001 escape. Guzmán, who is facing trial in the United States, pleaded not guilty to 17 criminal charges related to his drug empire -- including corruption, murder, conspiracy, drug importation and money laundering.