The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project published findings from an investigation built on leaked messages from Sky ECC, an encrypted communications platform favored by criminal networks.
Journalists and researchers reconstructed daily logistics of a transnational cocaine trafficking operation, tracing shipments, payments and coordination among distributors.
The reporting showed how encrypted handsets were used to plan routes, assign couriers and respond to law enforcement disruptions across multiple countries.
Sky ECC was dismantled in a series of international police actions, but archived message data continued to fuel prosecutions and investigative journalism.
Anti-narcotics experts said the case illustrates how digital evidence can complement traditional surveillance in dismantling sophisticated supply chains.
Law enforcement agencies in Europe and Latin America previously used Sky ECC intercepts to map courier networks and arrest senior traffickers.
Reporting partners coordinated publication to minimize ongoing operational risk while documenting how encrypted platforms became operational hubs for cocaine distribution.
Prosecutors in multiple jurisdictions continue to introduce Sky ECC message excerpts as trial evidence in ongoing narcotics cases.
Trafficking rings described in the investigation relied on encrypted handsets to coordinate handoffs between South American producers and European distributors.
Journalism consortium members verified message metadata against court records from prior convictions to corroborate participant identities.
Defense attorneys for defendants named in related prosecutions may challenge admissibility of decrypted Sky ECC messages during upcoming trial proceedings.
A deep investigation by OCCRP using leaked Sky ECC encrypted phone messages exposed the day-to-day operations of a major international cocaine trafficking ring.
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Sources:
https://www.occrp.org/en