In Germany, members of a drug trafficking group will stand trial for developing their own messenger app for communication.
According to law enforcement officials, seven members of an international drug trafficking ring are involved in the case, having used a specially created application for their communications.
The prosecutor’s office reports that between 2020 and 2023, the group smuggled and sold over 880 kilograms of drugs, including cocaine and cannabis, worth €10.6 million. To coordinate their activities, the group used messengers SkyECC, Hades, and Enigma. However, investigators gained access to their communications.
Following this, law enforcement said the group hired programmers to create their own secure program – “Fake-WhatsApp.”
The drugs were stored in rented apartments in Frankfurt, from where they were distributed across Germany, as well as to Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
The leader of the gang is believed to be a 53-year-old man who organized the purchasing and selling of drugs and provided group members with specialized phones. Other participants included couriers who transported dozens of kilograms of cocaine to various regions of Europe.
Currently, out of 33 suspects, 17 have been detained, while seven members are already in prisons in Croatia, Italy, and Switzerland.
