700 held in major UK law enforcement operation

Entire organised crime groups have been dismantled during Operation Venetic with 746 arrests, 67 million U.S. dollar criminal cash, 77 firearms and over two tonnes of drugs seized so far, Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) said Thursday, reported Xinhua.

The breakthrough in the fight against serious and organised crime was made after the takedown of EncroChat, a bespoke encrypted global communication service used exclusively by criminals.

There were 60,000 users worldwide and around 10,000 users in Britain -- the sole use was for coordinating and planning the distribution of illicit commodities, money laundering and plotting to kill rival criminals, said the NCA.

The NCA said it had been working with international law enforcement agencies since 2016 to target EncroChat and other encrypted criminal communication platforms by sharing technical expertise and intelligence.

Two months ago this collaboration resulted in partners in France and the Netherlands infiltrating the platform. The data harvested was shared via Europol, said the agency, noting that the EncroChat servers have now been shut down.