Operation Trojan Shield 
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2018: Police in Canada arrest Vincent Ramos and dismantle his Phantom Secure company which sells some 20,000 customized encrypted devices to criminals
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2019: FBI recruits collaborator to develop AN0M – secure-messaging platform for criminal gangs. Unknown to users, app sends copy of every message to FBI servers, where they are decrypted
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2020: Europol – EU’s police co-operation agency – France and Netherlands shut down EncroChat – Europe-wide encrypted messaging service. At least 1,000 arrests made
across continent
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2020-21: As secure platforms used by criminals are closed by police, gangs look for alternatives. AN0M is ready – over 18-month period, AN0M app monitors 27 million messages from 11,800 devices
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Jun 2021: Global sting operations in 16 countries lead to arrest of more than 800 suspects and seizure of around 30 tonnes of drugs
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Police also seize 250 guns, 55 luxury cars and more than $148 million in cash and cryptocurrencies

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Sources: Associated Press, UNODC Picture: CBS News via YouTube © GRAPHIC NEWS