Why did the special agents conduct their investigation in European countries?
The Dutch media said that the US intelligence services, despite promises not to interfere in the investigation into the Sky Global case, conducted a covert operation in Europe.
According to confidential law enforcement documents, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials were in talks with a suspect associated with the sale of encrypted messages through Sky. The operation, which lasted from the end of 2019 to the end of 2020, took place in several countries, including the Netherlands, Spain and France.
During the operation, the agents managed to get in touch with the suspect Thomas H., who was selling phones with the pre-installed Sky program and lived for some time in the Netherlands. The Americans offered him assistance in laundering large sums of money through bitcoins. Thomas H. mentioned that his cash in the amount of 1.2 million euros is stored in the south of the Netherlands.
Despite an agreement between the law enforcement agencies of the United States and the Netherlands to freeze actions against Sky, the operation continued without notifying the Dutch side. Subsequently, it became known that France and Spain were informed and gave their consent to conduct operations on the territory of the countries, but the participation of the Netherlands in the actions remains in question.
Dutch lawyers were not aware of the DEA's actions, which raised serious concerns. A criminal lawyer studying the Sky case noted that the use of such methods on Dutch territory should have been agreed with the local authorities, but such documents were not presented during the trial. There is a suspicion that the actions of the United States could violate legal norms and affect further litigation in the Netherlands.
The Dutch prosecutor's office declined to comment on the situation, citing the interests of the investigation and confidentiality issues. There was also no comment from representatives of the DEA.
Sky ECC is a paid end-to-end encrypted messaging app developed by Sky Global. The same company manufactured and sold Google, Apple, Nokia, and BlackBerry smartphones without GPS modules, cameras, and microphones. Thus, through Sky ECC and special smartphones, criminals could communicate by text with "colleagues" without fear of being listened to by the police or other third parties.
In March 2021, Sky Global ceased operations following raids in Belgium and the Netherlands on Sky ECC users and merchants. That same month, U.S. prosecutors indicted the CEO of Sky Global for selling encrypted devices to drug traffickers to help them evade justice.
In August 2024, it became known that US law enforcement agencies began using data obtained from the hacking of Sky's encrypted telephone network to investigate cases related to international crime.
It is worth recalling two other encrypted communication services - EncroChat and ANOM , which were also previously hacked and soon closed. Like Sky ECC, these paid communication apps have been popular among criminals to hide their illegal operations. Data from all three services was used by law enforcement as evidence for thousands of arrests.
Source
The Dutch media said that the US intelligence services, despite promises not to interfere in the investigation into the Sky Global case, conducted a covert operation in Europe.
According to confidential law enforcement documents, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials were in talks with a suspect associated with the sale of encrypted messages through Sky. The operation, which lasted from the end of 2019 to the end of 2020, took place in several countries, including the Netherlands, Spain and France.
During the operation, the agents managed to get in touch with the suspect Thomas H., who was selling phones with the pre-installed Sky program and lived for some time in the Netherlands. The Americans offered him assistance in laundering large sums of money through bitcoins. Thomas H. mentioned that his cash in the amount of 1.2 million euros is stored in the south of the Netherlands.
Despite an agreement between the law enforcement agencies of the United States and the Netherlands to freeze actions against Sky, the operation continued without notifying the Dutch side. Subsequently, it became known that France and Spain were informed and gave their consent to conduct operations on the territory of the countries, but the participation of the Netherlands in the actions remains in question.
Dutch lawyers were not aware of the DEA's actions, which raised serious concerns. A criminal lawyer studying the Sky case noted that the use of such methods on Dutch territory should have been agreed with the local authorities, but such documents were not presented during the trial. There is a suspicion that the actions of the United States could violate legal norms and affect further litigation in the Netherlands.
The Dutch prosecutor's office declined to comment on the situation, citing the interests of the investigation and confidentiality issues. There was also no comment from representatives of the DEA.
Sky ECC is a paid end-to-end encrypted messaging app developed by Sky Global. The same company manufactured and sold Google, Apple, Nokia, and BlackBerry smartphones without GPS modules, cameras, and microphones. Thus, through Sky ECC and special smartphones, criminals could communicate by text with "colleagues" without fear of being listened to by the police or other third parties.
In March 2021, Sky Global ceased operations following raids in Belgium and the Netherlands on Sky ECC users and merchants. That same month, U.S. prosecutors indicted the CEO of Sky Global for selling encrypted devices to drug traffickers to help them evade justice.
In August 2024, it became known that US law enforcement agencies began using data obtained from the hacking of Sky's encrypted telephone network to investigate cases related to international crime.
It is worth recalling two other encrypted communication services - EncroChat and ANOM , which were also previously hacked and soon closed. Like Sky ECC, these paid communication apps have been popular among criminals to hide their illegal operations. Data from all three services was used by law enforcement as evidence for thousands of arrests.
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