Invade research into encrypted mobile phones

amsterdam - The police were invaded at eleven locations in North Holland and Flevoland on Tuesday afternoon in an investigation into the sale of so-called crypto mobile phones. These are smartphones that encrypt the communication, which makes it more difficult for tracking services to watch or listen. Because of that, they are popular among criminals.

Four people were arrested for searches in Diemen, Berkhout and Houses. In a building at the Plantage Muidergracht in the center of Amsterdam, the police took a million euros of cash.

The so-called Team High Tech Crime continued to house and business premises in Almere, Zandvoort and Zeewolde. The search for FIOD and the Functional Parquet, which specializes in fraud cases, are also involved. They took the accounts at two administrative offices. In addition to delivering prepaid phones to criminals, the research is about money laundering practices.

According to the spokesman, the attacks are separate from a previous major investigation into a company from Nijmegen that provided crypto-mobile phones. Customers of that company, Ennetcom, did not appear so safe at all for police and justice later. Those in March announced that they had access to 3.6 million messages sent via Ennetcom's servers. The cracking of the encryption provided information in dozens of investigations into crimes, from liquidations to drug trafficking.