A major sting operation overseen by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) led to 28 arrests in Estonia, while at least one suspect is still on the run.
Operation Trojan Shield was an FBI-led collaboration by law enforcement agencies from several countries, 2018–2021. Its main tool was the smartphone-based messaging app ANOM, a “honeypot” communication device which attracted and was indeed marketed to criminals, but was actually a Trojan horse covertly distributed by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The operation resulted in the arrest of over 800 suspects allegedly involved in criminal activity in 16 countries, including several from Estonia. Trojan Shield and the ANOM project was not without its critics and controversy, however.
ETV investigative show “Pealtnägija” found out more.
The FBI set up an elaborate trap, spreading a supposedly wiretap-proof phone among criminals while secretly monitoring all communications; over 1,000 were arrested, 28 in Estonia.
On being asked which of the past year’s court rulings stood out, some of Estonia’s best-known prosecutors and defense lawyers mentioned the so-called ANOM ‘phone case. This was an international sting operation run by the FBI, involving a supposedly bug-proof ‘phone being provided to wrongdoers. In fact, the authorities were fully monitoring the “burner” ‘phone’s communications. The number of criminals who swallowed the bait stretched into the hundreds, from Colombian cartels to Australian biker gangs.
Read more: ERR.EE
