Latest news with #AndyKraag
Euronews
17-04-2025
- Euronews
Digital tracking on encrypted platforms leads to drugs smuggling bust, Europol says
ADVERTISEMENT Authorities have dismantled four major criminal networks responsible for fuelling the flow of drugs into the European Union and Turkey, arresting more than 230 people in a sting known as Operation Bulut. The final three arrests were made in the Netherlands and Germany on Wednesday, bringing the trans-European operation to a close. Europol said the investigation took place across multiple jurisdictions and involved authorities in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. What set this operation apart, was the extent to which law enforcement officers employed digital tracking within encrypted digital platforms to track down and arrest suspected drug smugglers. In an interview with Euronews, Andy Kraag, the Head of Europol's European Serious and Organised Crime Centre, explained more about the operation. Euronews: Why is Operation Bulut regarded as innovative in the fight against international crime and drug trafficking? Andy Kraag:** This is a prime example of a strategy for tackling these criminal organisations. This strategy, as we call it, is a data-driven network strategy. With these platforms, for instance, we collect large data sets. We conduct analysis so that we can identify, we can locate and target the right criminals. This is a prime example. This sends a strong message to organised crime groups that even the most resilient networks can be dismantled, specifically when we, as law enforcement, join forces. Euronews: Was ANOM a trap encrypted platform to attract and track criminal activities? Kraag:** Operation Bulut was built on the encryptions, so on the messages from Sky and from ANOM. And ANOM is a different platform. ANOM was the platform that was run by law enforcement, by the Australians and by the police officers. And they saw it. And in this platform, these criminals also talked about criminal activities. So instantly we could use it as evidence. Through ANOM, law enforcement themselves put in a platform themselves and criminals choose to communicate on it. Andy Kraag, Europol's head of the Serious Organised Crime Unit Europol Euronews: Did the EU police forces, along with officers from Turkey, gain access to encrypted platforms the criminals gangs were using to communicate? Kraag:** These messages (of the criminals) gave us the main advantage to carry out this operation. Even though the messages were four years old, it takes some time to develop the cases. Sometimes, we also say in law enforcement, that this goldmine of information that we have decrypted is like the gift that keeps on giving. We constantly develop actionable intelligence, which leads to ongoing investigations. ADVERTISEMENT Euronews: You mentioned a keyword; intelligence. Have you managed to overcome the lack of classified information information sharing between states? That's often a stumbling block in the struggle against crime in the EU? Kraag:** The information sharing between European law enforcement agencies has improved, but now we're also able to share as well. France authorised the sharing (of its intelligence) with Turkey. We know that there's law enforcement and there's only one thing that is needed: to share information, to cooperate, and to be able to connect the dots. And specifically for Europol, what is our role? That's basically what we do. We are the glue that brings everything together. ADVERTISEMENT
Daily Tribune
16-04-2025
- Daily Tribune
Europe raids net 200 arrests and drugs haul
Police staged 'unprecedented' raids against four organised crime groups yesterday, arresting more than 200 people in five European countries, primarily in Turkey, in a 'massive blow' against drug-trafficking networks, officials said. Alongside the arrests, officers in Operation 'Bulut' ('Cloud' in Turkish) seized more than 21 tonnes of drugs, including 3.3 million MDMA tablets, said EU police agency Europol, which coordinated the sting. 'This was one of the biggest strikes against organised crime groups in recent years,' Andy Kraag, head of Europol's European Serious Organised Crime Centre, told AFP in an interview. Images of the raids s h owe d a r m e d p o l i c e storming into properties, apprehending suspects and pinning them to the floor before handcuffing them.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Yahoo
'Unprecedented' Europe raids net 200 arrests, drugs haul
Police in Europe staged "unprecedented" raids against four organised crime groups on Tuesday, arresting more than 200 people across five countries, primarily in Turkey, in a "massive blow" against drug-trafficking networks. Alongside the arrests, officers in Operation "Bulut" ("Cloud" in Turkish) seized more than 21 tonnes of drugs, including 3.3 million MDMA tablets, said EU police agency Europol, which coordinated the sting. "This was one of the biggest strikes against organised crime groups in recent years," Andy Kraag, head of Europol's European Serious Organised Crime Centre, told AFP in an interview. Images of the raids showed armed police storming into properties, apprehending suspects and pinning them to the floor before handcuffing them. Authorities also confiscated drugs, vehicles and cash used by the groups. "This is a massive blow because I think it's unprecedented," said Kraag, adding the operation sent "a big message to organised crime." "And the message is basically that even though you might think that you're resilient, that you're a big player, at the end of the day, you will get dismantled," warned Kraag. Police detained a total of 234 people in the coordinated raids, 225 of whom were picked up in Turkey, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters earlier Tuesday. Yerlikaya said the groups were aiming to ship cocaine to Turkey and Europe by sea and land from South American countries, as well as heroin from Iran and Afghanistan, skunk cannabis through the Balkans, and ecstasy through Europe. The four dismantled groups were also involved in money laundering, violent crime, and other shady criminal activities. As well as Turkey, police made arrests in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Spain. Europol's Kraag said authorities had detained the whole network of these groups "from the top boss to the low-end street criminal." The sting was made possible by reading messages from the cracking four years ago of encrypted communications platforms Sky ECC and ANOM used by criminals. Kraag told AFP that the "gold mine" of intercepted messages was "like the gift that keeps on giving." "They constantly lead to actionable intelligence and to ongoing operations," he said. "I would not exclude further arrests," added Kraag. fo-ric/jm
