France and the Netherlands dismantle criminal encrypted messaging service Matrix

Europol announced on December 3, 2024, that French and Dutch authorities had coordinated the takedown of Matrix, an encrypted messaging service used by criminals. The operation, launched three months ago, brought together law enforcement agencies from Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Lithuania, and the Netherlands, resulting in the shutdown of the application’s servers.

Dutch police first discovered Matrix in 2021 on the smartphone of a criminal convicted for the murder of journalist Peter de Vries. The application had replaced messaging services Encrochat and Sky ECC, which were dismantled in June 2020 and March 2021, respectively. According to Europol, Matrix offered a “technically more complex” infrastructure than its predecessors, featuring more advanced encryption systems. Smartphones equipped with the service were priced between €1,300 and €1,600.

The messaging platform relied on around 40 servers, primarily located in France and Germany. French and Dutch police successfully infiltrated these servers, allowing them to decrypt 2.3 million messages exchanged by the 8,000 registered users of the criminal service. These conversations are expected to lead to numerous criminal investigations, including cases of money laundering, arms trafficking, and drug trafficking.

Law enforcement also conducted raids in France, Spain, and Lithuania, resulting in three arrests, including that of a Lithuanian citizen suspected of being the head of the criminal network, apprehended in France. The participating police forces seized €145,000 in cash, €500,000 in cryptocurrency, four cars, over 970 phones, and a villa in Spain valued at €15 million.