The Federal Judicial Police have arrested a further ten suspects as part of the ongoing Sky-ECC investigation. The arrests followed searches of 19 properties in Antwerp Province. The Sky ECC investigation got under way around 4 years ago in late 2018. Sky ECC is a Canadian/American company that supplied mobile phones with encryption software. The encrypted Sky-ECC phones that were used by criminals was decrypted by police IT experts. This has led to information on criminal gangs becoming available to police. Dozens of arrests have already been made here in Belgium and many more in countries across the globe.
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Another ten arrests in Sky ECC investigation
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The searches carried out this week were at properties in Hoboken, Deurne, Rumst, Wommelgem, Berlaar, Boom, Ekeren, Lier and Mortsel (all Antwerp Province).
A total of ten people were detained. An Examining Magistrate will decide on whether they will be charged.
Three investigations
In a statement the Public Prosecutor’s Office said "This concerns a total of three criminal investigations that were initiated thanks to information gained from decrypted Sky ECC communication. The criminal organisations are believed to have been led from abroad”.
The first case involves two brothers aged 28 and 33 from the Antwerp district of Hoboken. Their criminal activities were allegedly directed by a 33-year-old man that lives outside of Belgium. The brothers allegedly trafficked consignment of cocaine and cash totalling around 13 million euro.
The public prosecutor's office says that the brothers trafficked 17 consignments of cocaine amounting to around 1,000 “blocks” of the drug. The drug trafficking started in 2019.
In addition to this "Five men between the ages of 28 and 44 will be brought before an Examining Magistrate. One of the suspects worked together with a shipping planner (aged 45) for ensure the removal of drugs that had arrived at the port. They are suspected of having smuggled at least eleven consignments of the drug with a total weight of 3.1 tonnes."
Another investigation centres around a courier company that was active in the port and handled orders on board ships in Antwerp, Germany and the Netherlands.
"The courier company provided a cover to bring in cargoes of narcotics on board ships or to remove the consignments from the ships" the Public Prosecutor's Office said.
The organisation is said to have been responsible for the import and export of nearly 800kg of cocaine and 60 packages of crystal meth. The offences allegedly took place between June 2019 and March 2021. The criminal organisation’s assets are estimated to be at least 19.8 million euros.
During a search at another property 48 packs of cocaine and 405,000 euros were seized. Three men were detained.