More than 800 people have been arrested following a global crime sting targeting gang members.
The gangs had been tricked into using phones that were being secretly monitored by the FBI.
Since 2019, it had been covertly running a company known as ANOM which offered encrypted devices.
The company ended up servicing more than 12,000 devices in more than 100 countries.
A number of international policing groups then exploited the intelligence from the 27 million messages obtained.
It allowed authorities to monitor details about drug smuggling, money laundering and planned killings.
Over the past few days, 800 people were arrested across 16 countries.
The sting also led to the seizure of 8 tonnes of cocaine, 22 tonnes of cannabis, 250 firearms and 48 million dollars in various currencies.
Spin-off operations will be carried out in the weeks to come.
