Dutch and French authorities take down criminal encrypted messaging service MATRIX

A joint investigation team, which was led by Dutch and French law enforcement agencies, has succeeded in taking down an encrypted messaging service called MATRIX.

MATRIX was first discovered by the Dutch authorities on the phone of a convicted criminal for the murder of Dutch reporter and journalist Peter R. de Vries in July 2021. The National Police launched an extensive investigation into the messaging service.

Soon it became clear that the infrastructure of MATRIX was technically more advanced than previous platforms, like EncroChat, Sky ECC, Exclu, and Ghost. The infrastructure to run MATRIX consisted of more than 40 servers in numerous countries.

The main infrastructure of MATRIX was taken down on December 3. Police officers in France arrested one suspect and searched his house in the process. Two people were arrested in Spain at the request of the Dutch authorities, including the presumed owner and administrator of the messaging service, a 52 year old man from Lithuania.

Six houses were searched in both Spain and Lithuania. During the house searches, over €145,000 in cash and half a million euros in cryptocurrencies were seized. In addition, four vehicles and more than 970 phones were confiscated. Police do not rule out multiple arrests.

Criminals using the messaging service are alerted to the interception by the authorities through a splash page.

The Dutch National Police was able to look inside MATRIX’s criminal messaging system for three months, tracking all communications within multiple international criminal networks.

Over 2.3 million messages in 33 different languages provided a deep insight into the underworld, including international drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and money laundering.

The encrypted messaging service, which was primarily installed on Google Pixel phones, offered an ecosystem of applications, including the ability to make video calls, keep track of financial transactions, and surf the internet anonymously.

A device with a six month subscription cost between €1,300 and €1,600. New users were only able to get a device if they were invited.

The joint operation was carried out by law enforcement agencies in France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Spain. Europol and Eurojust coordinated the take down operation.