FBI bust aims to shut drug traffickers out of super-encrypted communication networks

[S.J.B.]

FBI bust aims to shut drug traffickers out of their super-encrypted communication networks
Kristina Davis
The San Diego Union-Tribune
March 15th, 2018

Drug traffickers need reliable smartphone service, too, and Vancouver entrepreneur Vincent Ramos is accused of providing just that to criminal organizations around the world.

These are no ordinary Blackberries.

The guts of the phone that control everything from calls to photos to internet access have been replaced with a super encrypted messaging system, with signals routed through encrypted servers in Panama and elsewhere, all ensuring that the big-money business of drug trafficking can be done away from the prying eyes of law enforcement, according to investigators.

Ramos, 40, founder and CEO of Phantom Secure, was arrested last week in Bellingham, Wash., on a San Diego warrant, and on Thursday a San Diego federal grand jury indicted him and four of his associates who remain fugitives, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The heavily redacted complaint unsealed in the case lays out an effort spanning the U.S., Canada and Australia to cut off drug organizations from their secure communication networks. Authorities in Panama, Hong Kong and Thailand also aided investigation efforts, officials said.

Read the full story here.

 

[S.J.B.]

If you want to run a successful business in a grey area of the law, it is best to:

1. Never, ever counsel anyone on how to use your product/service to commit an illegal act.

2. If at all possible, do not at any point step foot in the United States.

Otherwise you are asking for trouble.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

If you want to run a successful business in a grey area of the law, it is best to:

1. Never, ever counsel anyone on how to use your product/service to commit an illegal act.

2. If at all possible, do not at any point step foot in the United States.

Otherwise you are asking for trouble.

Having private communications isn’t a crime.

 

[JessFR]

A minor set back. Technology can be used to engage in secure private communications. That's the nature of what exists and it doesn't require any central company to operate. You can fight it, but you can never win. Much like the war on drugs as a whole.

 

[S.J.B.]

Having private communications isn’t a crime.

Ramos implicated himself into a lot more than facilitating private communications:

Investigators worked to close in on Phantom Secure, with Royal Canadian Mounted Police posing as drug-trafficking customers. In one conversation, an officer asked if it was OK to speak about drug transactions explicitly on the phones, and a company representative assured him it was “totally fine” because the servers are based in Panama and “no one has access,” the complaint says.

In another exchange, the undercover agent asked Phantom to delete data from a phone because an associate had been arrested and there’s “evidence” that needs to be gone. The representative agreed to wipe both devices clean, the complaint says.

In February 2017, several undercover agents posing as high-level traffickers met with Ramos in Las Vegas, explaining they were expanding into South America and Europe. They spoke bluntly about their criminal enterprise and even indicated they would need GPS tracking in case they had to locate snitches to be murdered, according to the complaint.

“Right, right, right, right,” Ramos responded, and later assured the devices cannot be hacked, the complaint says.

What he should have done was to refuse to deal with any customer who brought up criminal activity. Sure, he would have lost a few customers, but he would have covered his ass in the long term.

 

[TheRapperGoneBad]

What he should have done was to refuse to deal with any customer who brought up criminal activity. Sure, he would have lost a few customers, but he would have covered his ass in the long term.

For real you'd think running something this scale you would know better.

Not to mention only cops setting you up gonna lay shit out like that.

All of these requests could be made easily minus any incriminating details.

 

['medicine cabinet']

Seriously...only cops would lay out plans to find ppl to be wacked. That's the kind of shit that could get you killed just overhearing really traffickers talk about.

 

[belligerent drunk]

Ramos implicated himself into a lot more than facilitating private communications:

How so? Apart from the GPS thing, reassuring a client that their line is safe from eavesdropping or deleting conversation logs is hardly a criminal act, no? What did he implicate himself into other than facilitating private communications then?

 

[treezy z]

They used less OPSEC than any corner smoke shop (don't call it a "bong" it is a "waterpipe." If you call it a bong you are banned permanently.)

 

[S.J.B.]

How so? Apart from the GPS thing, reassuring a client that their line is safe from eavesdropping or deleting conversation logs is hardly a criminal act, no? What did he implicate himself into other than facilitating private communications then?

It became more than that when the clients began asking about how the service could be used to specifically facilitate illegal acts, for example, the undercover police asked questions specifically about using the service for discussing drug transactions, and about deleting evidence of a criminal act (which is itself a crime).

 

[belligerent drunk]

It became more than that when the clients began asking about how the service could be used to specifically facilitate illegal acts, for example, the undercover police asked questions specifically about using the service for discussing drug transactions, and about deleting evidence of a criminal act (which is itself a crime).

I guess it does become a crime when the provider is explicitly being told the purpose. Thanks for clearing it up for me.

 

[JessFR]

Man that's really dumb in their part. Especially with so many lawful justifications for providing this like privacy and such.