Two charged in relation to international investigation into criminal networks

The Ghost platform has been used by gangs to share encoded messages

The two men due to appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice this Friday morning. Picture: Dan Linehan.

Two men have been charged in connection with an international investigation relating to an encrypted communication platform used by criminals.

Known as Ghost, the system has been used by some of Ireland’s biggest drugs gangs to share encoded messages.

On Thursday, Garda National Drugs and Organized Crime Bureau arrested two men, aged in their 50s and 60s, in the east of the country.

The two men have since been charged in relation to this investigation and are due to appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice this morning.

Investigation into 'Ghost' platform

After working with Europol and Eurojust, Gardaí worked with law enforcement and judicial authorities from around the world to dismantle the encrypted communication platform that was established for facilitating serious and organised crime perpetrated by dangerous criminal networks operating on a global scale.

'Ghost' was used to facilitate a wide range of criminal activities, including large-scale drug trafficking, money laundering, instances of extreme violence and other forms of serious and organised crime.

The platform had gained traction among criminal organisations due to its advanced security features. Users could purchase the solution without any personal information. The solution used three encryption standards and offered the option to send a message followed by a specific code that results in self-destruction of all messages on the target phone. This allowed criminal networks to communicate securely, evade detection, counter forensic measures, and coordinate their illegal operations across borders.

Worldwide, several thousand individuals used the tool, which has its own infrastructure and applications with a network of resellers based in several countries. On a global scale, Gardaí estimate around a thousand messages are being exchanged each day via Ghost.