Australia’s “Operation Kraken” seizes more than $6 million in cryptocurrency from ghost mastermind

• AFP arrests 32-year-old man during raid on New South Wales home
• The seizure of the cryptocurrency became possible after the AFP deciphered the suspect’s seed phrase.
• This arrest is the second during Operation Kraken.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has seized $6.4 million in cryptocurrency from the person believed to be behind Ghost, an encrypted communications platform used by criminals to create and manage apps.

As part of Operation Kraken, a 32-year-old man from New South Wales was arrested on September 17 and charged with five offenses, including supporting a criminal organization, according to an AFP statement.

The success of the operation was made possible after AFP analytics experts discovered a seed phrase for an account belonging to the suspect’s digital wallet on a device during a raid on Narwee’s home.

According to AFP, they moved the assets to a secure AFP cryptocurrency vault restricted under the Commonwealth Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

This is the second seizure of cryptocurrency assets under Operation Kraken, after approximately $1.4 million worth of cryptocurrency and assets were seized as part of an investigation into alleged criminal gangs in Western Australia.

Acting Commander Scott Raven said: “The capping of these assets demonstrates the technical capability and strength of the AFP and our partners through the Criminal Asset Confiscation Task Force (CACT) in the fight against organized crime.”

To date, Operation Kraken has resulted in 46 arrests, 93 search warrants, and the seizure of 30 illegal firearms, $1.6 million in cash, and $7.65 million in assets.

ghost crackdown

According to AFP, Ghost was created nine years ago. But it wasn’t until 2022 that law enforcement had an opportunity to target the platform.

The need to police communication platforms is highlighted by the number of organizations involved. In 2022, international partners began targeting Ghost and asked the AFP to become part of the task force.

Europol created a task force called OTF NEXT, led by the FBI and the French Gendarmerie. Supporting agencies under these two organizations include the AFP, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Swedish Metropolitan Police, the Dutch National Police, the Irish Garda Síochána, and the Italian Counter-Drugs Central Bureau. Icelandic police also helped.

During the operation, the AFP created Operation Kraken after being able to infiltrate the Ghost. AFP was able to access the content of the device in Australia after modifying an update released by the suspect and then infecting the device.

According to AFP, the majority of criminals using Ghost are in New South Wales. However, it has also been found in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).