Police have arrested four individuals—three men and one woman—linked to the distribution of Sky ECC encrypted phones, which have become tools for organized crime across several countries. The Dutch public prosecution office confirmed these arrests, stating that the suspects helped distribute phones supplied by the Canadian company Sky Global. Alongside these arrests, authorities seized €1.4 million in cryptocurrency and various properties.
The unnamed suspects face serious charges, including operating a criminal organization and laundering money obtained from criminal enterprises in exchange for encrypted phones. Using advanced techniques, French, Belgian, and Dutch police tapped into Sky ECC’s networks, the largest cryptophone service in the world. Their investigation led to the decryption of millions of messages between June 2019 and March 2021, resulting in significant arrests of drug trafficking groups in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Dutch law enforcement utilized the decrypted messages to build hundreds of cases against those involved in drug and arms trafficking, money laundering, and violent crimes. Jean-François Eap, the owner of Sky Global, continues to run tech and sushi businesses in Vancouver and denies that the company knowingly sold phones to any criminal organizations.
In Spain, police captured a 37-year-old man from Amsterdam in Alicante. He was part of a distribution network providing Sky ECC phones to the Netherlands. Another arrest was made on the island of Ibiza, involving a 36-year-old from Arnhem. This individual held significant control as a shareholder and director in various companies across the Netherlands, Curacao, and Canada and played a role in distributing these cryptophones.
In Amsterdam, authorities detained a 37-year-old man, deemed a prime suspect, and a 36-year-old woman for their alleged roles in profiting from the distribution of Sky ECC phones to criminals.
Sky Global claimed to offer the “most secure messaging platform you can buy,” supplying encrypted phones to around 70,000 users globally. Their technology provided sophisticated encryption on devices like iPhones, Google Pixels, BlackBerrys, and Nokias, routing messages through servers located in France and Canada. The service was marketed for features like self-destructing messages and secure audio communication, with users communicating under anonymous aliases.
Dutch authorities link the suspects to about 25% of all Sky ECC subscriptions worldwide, translating to approximately €13.8 million in revenue and €6.8 million in profits. These distributors reportedly kept significant earnings in cryptocurrency and invested in real estate, including a vacation park.
The recent arrests tie back to a French indictment naming 30 Sky ECC distributors and resellers. Among them is Canadian businessman Thomas Herdman, who has been in custody in France for over 42 months without trial. He was arrested despite agreeing to assist U.S. law enforcement in the investigation into Sky ECC.
Herdman worked for LevUp, a smaller Canadian distributor for Sky Global, and is accused of 22 offenses in France, all of which he denies. Charges include laundering proceeds linked to organized crime through Sky ECC phone distribution. The case against him and Eap originated in an indictment from a grand jury in California, which includes serious charges of racketeering and facilitating drug trafficking.
In the Netherlands, the investigation into Sky ECC’s distributors involves multiple agencies, including the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service, focusing on financial crimes, and the National Investigation and Interventions Unit, which targets organized crime. Those arrested in Spain are expected to be extradited to the Netherlands, while the two individuals detained there have been released on bail as of January 30, 2025.