Encrochat’s shady users felt safe and openly communicated about serious crimes. Ferhat E. and Galin A. are also said to have sold drugs on a large scale via the encrypted mobile phone system of the crypto messenger service.

Become a millionaire with Encrochat: Within less than four months, the 39-year-old E. is said to have traded drugs worth around 2.5 million euros. He will testify comprehensively before the district court, it was said at the beginning of the trial on Tuesday.

Two years ago, authorities in France and the Netherlands managed to crack the program and siphon off criminal chats for months. The yield was gigantic, especially around drug and arms trafficking.

The data was shared with European investigators, including the German Federal Criminal Police Office. In Berlin alone, around 1.6 million chat messages and 750 users are said to be involved. Around 40 charges have already been filed.

It’s now going to court in quick succession. A suspected business partner of Ferhat E. was sentenced to eleven years in prison a few days ago. 23-year-old Tim H. was found guilty of trafficking in various weapons and drugs via Encrochat. Proceeds of crime of around 2.4 million euros will be confiscated. In addition to H., a man from the Remmo clan was sentenced to nine years in prison. However, both decisions are not yet final.

“The evidence is good,” it said in the current trial. Finally, the Federal Court of Justice ruled in March that the use of skimmed Encrochat data is also permitted in Germany to investigate and convict serious crimes. In addition, Tim H. confessed to his trial.

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E. and A. were arrested in December last year and have been in custody since then. They are said to have dealt in marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines. According to the indictment, transactions were often in the kilogram range – as on May 16, 2020. At 9.12 a.m. Ferhat E. in Spandau is said to have ordered 41.6 kilograms of marijuana from another dealer using a so-called crypto cell phone. It is said that he sold the drugs “profitably at a price of 195,520 euros” to Tim H.

The main accused E. is accused of 31 alleged acts, 17 cases are involved in the case of the co-accused. E. will probably comment on this on Thursday.