European joint investigation team, 2020 The Europol-supported JIT, code named
Emma 95 in France and
26Lemont in the Netherlands, allowed the gathering in real time of millions of messages between suspects. Information was also shared with law enforcement in several countries that were not participating in the JIT, including the UK, Sweden and Norway. The Dutch police arrested more than 100 suspects and seized more than 8 tonnes of
cocaine, around 1.2 tonnes of
crystal methamphetamine, 19 synthetic drug laboratories, dozens of guns and luxury cars, and around €20 million in cash. EncroChat probes in Ireland left criminals scrambling for cover. €1.1 million worth of cocaine was seized in an Amsterdam flat, and €5.5 million of cannabis in a trailer in
County Wexford, both belonging to Irish gangs. Prominent Irish gang boss
Daniel Kinahan was reported to have fled his "safe-haven" of Dubai on 9 July 2020. Arrests were also made in Sweden.
United Kingdom Operation Venetic Operation Venetic was a British national response initiated by the
National Crime Agency (NCA). In June 2020, EncroChat had 10,000 users in the UK alone. More than 28 million tablets of the sedative
Etizolam were found in a factory in
Rochester, Kent. He had pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to commit a crime at an earlier hearing. • By 9 October 2023, Operation Venetic had led to more than 3,100 arrests, 1,240 convictions and a combined 7,938 years in prison sentences. The operation had also recovered 173 firearms, 3459 rounds of ammunition and more than 9 tonnes of class A drugs. • In November 2023 Natalie Mottram, a former police analyst, was sentenced to almost four years imprisonment for misconduct in public office, perverting the course of justice and unauthorised access to computer material. She had told a criminal friend that police were monitoring EncroChat messages and that the police had information on him.
Warrant legality The legality of the Targeted Equipment Interference (TEI) warrant (91-TEI-0141-2020) due to the unorthodox nature of the warrant as well as the legal arguments in the affidavit in application of a TEI warrant. There is nothing new in arguing the merits of obtaining the identities of the users of a system and bringing them to justice. Neither is it particularly unusual to exaggerate the number of criminals that will be arrested, or to downplay the number of innocent people that will be affected by the intrusion, however unethical that method may be. However, in this warrant the NCA essentially indicated that if the warrant wasn't granted, then the French would proceed with the operation anyway, and the NCA would be exposed as culpable as to having violated civil and criminal statutes in the United Kingdom. (see page 9) "...there is a significant risk that the NCA is encouraging an offense under the CMA, which may amount to an offence under ss. 44, 45, 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 (the "SCA 2007)"..." In other words, the NCA's arguments for obtaining the warrant was, "if you don't grant this, we could be prosecuted for criminally participating in the hacking of United Kingdom citizens devices." After granting the initial warrant, amendments to the initial warrant were requested on 24 March 2020 to allow for the scanning of wireless access points available to the Encrochat devices. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) concluded that the National Crime Agency (NCA) did not deliberately conceal information from the Judicial Commissioner when applying for the Targeted Equipment Interference (TEI) warrant. The tribunal found that the NCA's actions were lawful and that they were not wrong in seeking a TEI warrant instead of a Targeted Interception (TI) warrant. The tribunal dismissed various claims and complaints, declaring that the TEI warrant was lawfully issued and that the NCA did not fail in its duty of candor.
Operation Eternal Operation Eternal, the London
Metropolitan Police arm of the EncroChat operation, described itself as "the most significant operation the Metropolitan Police Service has ever launched against serious and organised crime". Around 1,400 EncroChat users were based in London at the time of its closure in June 2020. The Metropolitan Police seized more than £13.4 million in cash, 16 firearms, more than 500 rounds of ammunition, 620 kg (1400 lb) of
Class A drugs, and arrested 171 people. As of 8 July 2020, 113 of them have been charged; 88 face charges of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, and 16 have been charged with firearms offences. Three men were arrested in Brighton and Portslade, five men and a woman in Kent and London. ==Convictions==