In a major breakthrough against cybercrime, Operation Passionflower has successfully dismantled MATRIX, a sophisticated encrypted messaging platform used by criminal organizations. The operation, led by Europol and Eurojust, emerged from investigations into the attempted assassination of journalist Peter R. de Vries.

The criminal network operated through 40 servers across Europe, serving approximately 8,000 users who paid between $1,350 and $1,700 in cryptocurrency for devices and six-month subscriptions. The platform, also known as Mactrix, Totalsec, X-quantum, and Q-safe, facilitated communications in 33 different languages, with authorities monitoring 2.3 million messages during the investigation.

The operation resulted in five arrests, including the suspected Lithuanian owner, and significant seizures:
– 970 encrypted phones
– €145,000 in cash
– €500,000 in cryptocurrency
– 4 vehicles
– 40 server infrastructures

This takedown follows successful operations against similar platforms like Ghost, EncroChat, Exclu, and Sky ECC, highlighting law enforcement’s increasing effectiveness in combating encrypted criminal communications. Legitimate users can request investigation exemption by contacting [email protected].

Note: This MATRIX platform is unrelated to the legitimate open-source Matrix protocol.