Published
Video length: 27 min
Correspondent. Crime messaging investigation
Correspondent. Crime messaging investigation
(SPECIAL SENDING / FRANCE 2)
In 2021, the judicial police infiltrate Sky ECC, an encrypted telephone network used by the most wanted criminals on the planet. “Special Envoy” offers a dizzying dive into the secrets of organized crime…
It is an extraordinary story that no French camera has been able to film until today, the most spectacular case of the French judicial police, a case so captivating that it could be the poster child for a Hollywood spy film.
It all starts in 2021, when the French judicial police, with their Belgian counterparts, manage to secretly infiltrate an encrypted telephone network, such as Telegram, called Sky ECC and whose servers are based in France. A messaging system reputed to be inviolable, and used by the most wanted criminals on the planet.
Thousands of thugs spied on for two years
For two years, investigators spied on several thousand thugs and worked very closely with the 200 most important members of global organized crime.
Thinking of using tamper-proof telephones, they exchange openly, “in the clear”, about their crimes: delivery points and photos of cocaine shipments, lists of weapons or targets to be killed, settling of scores and executions filmed live, threats and sequestrations. “It’s as if we were at the table with the criminals”summarizes Catherine De Bolle, the executive director of Europol.
In Serbia, a “house of horror”
Over the months, the French judicial police get their hands on more than a billion exchanges. Investigators from around the world are asking him for access to this extraordinary database, including the Serbian police. The Sky ECC seals reveal the existence of a “house of horror” where local godfathers had their enemies tortured and executed. Their high-voltage trial opens in Belgrade in 2022.
In France, the Anti-Cybercrime Office (OFAC), the Anti-Narcotics Office (OFAST) or the Central Office for the Suppression of Serious Financial Crime (OCRGDF) track down criminals who used this encrypted messaging. Exclusively with these shadowy investigators, “Special Envoy” offers a unique and dizzying dive into the secrets of organized crime.
A report by Mathilde Gautry, Alexandre Basso and Marie-Noëlle Beck from Saint-Jore / Cover Filmsbroadcast in “Envoyéspecial” on April 25, 2024.
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