Operation Trojan Shield

Operation Trojan Shield
Operation Trojan Shield
Part of Operation Ironside
	; ; ANOM app logo (top), the seal of the FBI's Operation Trojan Shield (bottom left), and the logo of the AFP's Operation Ironside (bottom right)
Operation name	Operation Trojan Shield
Part of	Operation Ironside
Roster
Planned by	U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, Europol, Australian Federal Police, and others
Executed by	United States, Australia, Europol+
Countries participating	Sweden, United States, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany, Netherlands,
No. of countries participating	16
Mission
Target	organized criminal networks that use encrypted communication devices
Objective	Surveillance of criminal activity
Method	Honeypot communication device with security backdoor
Timeline
Date begin	2018
Date end	2021
Date executed	October 2018 (initial device distribution); 8 June 2021 (search warrant execution);
Results
Suspects	Germany: 150
Arrests	1,119+ Europol: 800+; Australia: 224; New Zealand: 35; Germany: 60+;
Miscellaneous results	40 tons of drugs (over eight tons of cocaine, 22 tons of cannabis and cannabis resin, six tons of synthetic drug precursors, two tons of synthetic drugs), 250 guns, 55 luxury cars, more than $48 million in various currencies and cryptocurrencies.; Australia: 104 firearms, $45 million AUD.; New Zealand: $3.7 million in assets, including 14 vehicles, drugs, firearms and more than $1 million in cash.;

Operation Trojan Shield (stylized TRØJAN SHIELD), part of Operation Ironside, was a collaboration by law enforcement agencies from several countries, running between 2018 and 2021. It was a sting operation that intercepted millions of messages sent through the supposedly secure smartphone-based proprietary messaging app ANOM (also stylized as AN0M or ΛNØM). The ANOM service was widely used by criminals, but instead of providing secure communication, it was actually a trojan horse covertly distributed by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), enabling them to monitor all communications. Through collaboration with other law enforcement agencies worldwide, the operation resulted in the arrest of over 800 suspects allegedly involved in criminal activity in 16 countries. Among the arrested people were alleged members of Australian-based Italian mafia, Albanian organised crime, outlaw motorcycle clubs, drug syndicates and other organised crime groups.

Operation Trojan Shield
Part of Operation Ironside
ANOM app logo (top), the seal of the FBI's Operation Trojan Shield (bottom left), and the logo of the AFP's Operation Ironside (bottom right)
Operation name	Operation Trojan Shield
Part of	Operation Ironside
Roster
Planned by	U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, Europol, Australian Federal Police, and others
Executed by	United States, Australia, Europol+
Countries participating	Sweden, United States, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany, Netherlands,
No. of countries participating	16
Mission
Target	organized criminal networks that use encrypted communication devices
Objective	Surveillance of criminal activity
Method	Honeypot communication device with security backdoor
Timeline
Date begin	2018
Date end	2021
Date executed	October 2018 (initial device distribution) 8 June 2021 (search warrant execution)
Results
Suspects	Germany: 150
Arrests	1,119+ Europol: 800+ Australia: 224 New Zealand: 35 Germany: 60+
Miscellaneous results	40 tons of drugs (over eight tons of cocaine, 22 tons of cannabis and cannabis resin, six tons of synthetic drug precursors, two tons of synthetic drugs), 250 guns, 55 luxury cars, more than $48 million in various currencies and cryptocurrencies. Australia: 104 firearms, $45 million AUD. New Zealand: $3.7 million in assets, including 14 vehicles, drugs, firearms and more than $1 million in cash.