Raids in Europe Lead to 232 Arrests as Turkish Organized Crime Targeted

Hundreds of people have been convicted across Europe for crimes allegedly perpetrated using the Sky ECC encrypted network.

The Anom logo displayed on a smartphone in Paris on June 8, 2021. Olivier Morin/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on April 15 that 234 people involved in drug trafficking have been arrested in an operation coordinated with several European countries.

The European Union’s police agency, Europol, said Operation Bulut (“cloud” in Turkish) was a data-driven operation built on intelligence extracted from the Sky ECC and Anom encrypted platforms, which were taken down in 2021.

Europol’s executive deputy director of operations, Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, said in a statement: “Years after their takedown, encrypted platforms like SKY ECC and Anom are still helping law enforcement turn intelligence into action.

“This case shows how powerful that data remains in identifying and dismantling high-value criminal networks operating in Europe. From logistics coordinators to the top tier of the criminal infrastructure, no one is beyond reach when countries work together and act on solid intelligence.”

Hundreds of people have been convicted across Europe for crimes allegedly perpetrated using the Sky ECC encrypted network, which was taken down in March 2021.

In June 2021, the FBI announced that hundreds of arrests had been made around the world as part of Operation Trojan Shield, which was based on Anom, an encrypted app that the bureau itself had designed and then marketed to sell to organized criminals in the United States, Europe, and Australia.

Europol said coordinated raids took place on April 15 in Turkey, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands, targeting what it called the “leadership and logistical arms” of several organized crime networks.

Yerlikaya said four different organized crime syndicates had been targeted.

In a post on social media platform X, Yerlikaya said, “We determined that these criminal organizations committed crimes such as murder, injury with a firearm, kidnapping, ‘deprivation of liberty and torture,’ ’shooting up businesses and cars for the purpose of intimidation,' and blackmail in addition to drug trafficking and money laundering.”

Ten of those arrested had been found using Interpol red notices.

The minister said Turkish police worked with Europol for eight months to decipher data from Sky ECC and Anom to work out the networks’ methods.

‘Greatest Enemy of Humanity’

“Drugs are the greatest enemy of humanity! We will continue to fight against the poison dealers who dare to do this on behalf of our country and humanity!” Yerlikaya said.

Europol said 232 suspects had been arrested, including “high value targets who played a pivotal role in drug trafficking and money laundering operations.”

None of those arrested have been named, and it is unclear whether charges have been brought.

Europol said 300 million euros (about $342 million) worth of assets were seized in Turkey and elsewhere in Europe, including 681 properties and 127 vehicles.

It said the organized crime networks that were targeted were linked to the seizure of at least 21 metric tons of drugs, including 3.3 million MDMA tablets.

“Investigators also exposed the groups’ involvement in money laundering, violent crime and a wider network of organized criminal activity,” Europol said.

In November 2024, Mahmut Cengiz, an associate professor at the Terrorism, Transnational Crime, and Corruption Center at George Mason University in Virginia, told The Epoch Times that Turkish mafia groups were trafficking cocaine and heroin, as well as methamphetamine sourced from Iran, and were involved in human trafficking, using similar routes through the Balkans.

Cengiz said the ports of Antwerp in Belgium and Rotterdam in the Netherlands had seen record levels of annual cocaine seizures.

Two murders between May 2024 and July 2024—one in Barcelona, Spain, and one in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau—and a shooting in London, in which a 9-year-old girl was critically injured, were also tied to Turkish organized crime.

Cengiz said in November 2024, “If these violent incidents continue, it could signal that Turkish organized crime is evolving into a broader European issue, necessitating a coordinated response from law enforcement agencies across multiple countries.”

Sky ECC was an encrypted platform—created by Canadian company Sky Global—that was taken down after its server in France was hacked by the police in March 2021.

Sky Global CEO Jean-François Eap and another Canadian, Thomas Herdman, were indicted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which said they “knowingly and intentionally participated in a criminal enterprise that facilitated the transnational importation and distribution of narcotics through the sale and service of encrypted communications devices.”

Both men deny any wrongdoing. While Eap remains at liberty, Herdman was arrested in Spain in 2021, extradited to France, and remains in a Paris prison awaiting trial.