Australia’s “Operation Kraken” seizes over $6 million in crypto from alleged Ghost mastermind

• The AFP arrests a 32-year-old man during a raid at his home in New South Wales
• Seizing the crypto was made possible after the AFP cracked the suspect’s seed phrase
• The arrest marks the second under Operation Kraken

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has seized $6.4 million in crypto from the alleged mastermind behind Ghost, an encrypted communication platform used by criminals, for creating and administrating the app.

Under 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 this operation was made possible after an AFP analytics specialist uncovered the account’s seed phrase belonging to the suspect’s digital wallets from devices during a raid at his Narwee home.

According to the AFP, they moved the assets to a secure AFP cryptocurrency storage where it was restrained under the Commonwealth Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

This marks the second crypto asset seizure under Operation Kraken after crypto and property worth nearly $1.4 million were seized as part of an investigation into an alleged criminal syndicate in Western Australia.

“The restraint of these assets shows the technical capabilities and powers that the AFP, and our partners through the CACT (Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce), are able to bring to bear on organized crime,” said acting Commander Scott Raven.

To date, Operation Kraken has made 46 arrests, conducted 93 search warrants, seized 30 illicit firearms, seized $1.6 million in cash, and restrained $7.65 million in assets.

Cracking down on Ghost

According to the AFP, Ghost was created nine years ago; however, it was only in 2022 that the opportunity for law enforcement to target the platform arose.

The need to crackdown on the communication platform is highlighted by the number of organizations involved. In 2022, international partners began targeting Ghost and asked AFP to be part of its task force.

Europol created a task force called OTF NEXT, which was led by the FBI and the French Gendarmerie. Under these two organizations, those assisting included the AFP, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Swedish Police Authority, the Dutch National Police, the Irish Garda Síochána, and the Italian Central Directorate for Anti-Drug Service. The Icelandic Police also helped.

While working within the task, the AFP created Operation Kraken after they were able infiltrate Ghost. After modifying the updates the suspect released, which infected devices, the AFP was able to access the content on these devices in Australia.

According to the AFP, most of the alleged offenders who used Ghost are in New South Wales; however, they were also found in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).