48 arrested in Europe over encrypted app used in drug trade

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities say European investigators have shut down an encrypted communication service that was used as a secure channel for organized crime particularly in the drug trade and arrested 48 people. Police said more than 70 properties were searched in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland on Friday when the arrests were made. They said Monday that those arrested were users, operators and administrators of communication service Exclu. The detentions resulted from an investigation launched in 2020. The inquiry had its roots in the shutdown the previous year of a former military bunker in western Germany that hosted sites dealing in drugs and other illegal activities.