Dozens of public corruption cases have been initiated over the course of the investigation. Grand totals for the entire investigation include 800 arrests and seizures of more than 8 tons of cocaine 22 tons of marijuana 2 tons of methamphetamine/amphetamine six tons of precursor chemicals 250 firearms and more than $48 million in various worldwide currencies. CLICK HERE - Video Messages from International Partners They are charged with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), pertaining to their alleged involvement in marketing and distributing thousands of encrypted communication devices to transnational criminal organizations worldwide.ĭuring the last 24 to 48 hours, in addition to the more than 500 arrests around the world, authorities searched more than 700 locations deploying more than 9,000 law enforcement officers worldwide and seized multi-ton quantities of illicit drugs. The indictment charges 17 alleged distributors of the FBI’s devices and platform.

Some users negotiated drug deals via these encrypted messages and sent pictures of drugs, in one instance hundreds of kilograms of cocaine concealed in shipments of pineapples and bananas, and in another instance, in cans of tuna, in order to evade law enforcement. The users, believing their ANOM devices were protected from law enforcement by the shield of impenetrable encryption, openly discussed narcotics concealment methods, shipments of narcotics, money laundering, and in some groups-violent threats, the indictment said. These criminals sold more than 12,000 ANOM encrypted devices and services to more than 300 criminal syndicates operating in more than 100 countries, including Italian organized crime, Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, and various international drug trafficking organizations, according to court records.ĭuring the course of the investigation, while ANOM’s criminal users unknowingly promoted and communicated on a system operated lawfully by the FBI, agents catalogued more than 27 million messages between users around the world who had their criminal discussions reviewed, recorded, and translated by the FBI, until the platform was taken down yesterday. For the first time, the FBI operated its own encrypted device company, called “ANOM,” which was promoted by criminal groups worldwide.

The 500-plus arrests that took place during a worldwide two-day takedown were possible because of a San Diego-based investigation like no other.

SAN DIEGO – A wave of hundreds of arrests that began in Australia and stretched across Europe culminated today with the unsealing of a federal grand jury indictment in San Diego charging 17 foreign nationals with distributing thousands of encrypted communication devices to criminal syndicates. Twitter also wouldn’t comment on the report but pointed to its policies prohibiting the use of its data for surveillance purposes, even if such data is public.Media Relations Director Kelly Thornton (619) 546-9726 It was posted before the most recent mass shootings once again prompted calls for social media companies to do more to detect such threats.įacebook declined to comment. The contract solicitation and the potential clash was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Such a tool would likely violate the companies’ ban against using their data for surveillance. Last month, the FBI said it is soliciting proposals for a social media “early alerting tool” in order to identify possible threats while making sure that privacy and civil liberties considerations are taken into account. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The FBI is looking for outside contractors to monitor social media for potential threats, setting up a possible conflict with Facebook and other companies over privacy. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.

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