Original subtitles

[suspenseful music playing]

This program contains footage and testimonials that may be disturbing to some viewers.

All individuals awaiting trial, whether interviewed or mentioned in this series,

are presumed innocent.

All text and audio messages transcribed are authentic

and were sent via the encrypted Sky ECC messaging service.

[indistinct chatter]

BESANÇON FEBRUARY 2020

Gotta come prepared, ski mask, all-black clothing, a gas can and route plan

Are we on for the raid?

[music continues]

Yeah, my homie's selling me an AK...

That motherfucker's goin' straight to hell

[gun cocks]

target is heading back to Besançon, fellas

[car engine whirring]

[line trilling]

-[dispatcher] Emergency services. -[gunshot]

[screams]

[Hakim] Officer, we're under fire!

They're shooting straight at us!

[dispatcher] What's your name?

[Hakim] Who gives a shit? I'm getting shot at!

I'm gonna die! Keep left, keep left!

Straight down there. Keep left. Go straight, straight!

Sir! Seriously!

We're gonna die, for fuck's sake, man!

-[man 1] Look, they're gonna fight. -[man 2] Oh, shit.

[man 1] It's a fight. Film it. Keep filming it, bro.

[gunshot]

-He shot him! -[man 2] He got him!

He blew his head off. He's dead.

[man 1] Whoa!

[dispatcher] Hello? Hello?

[Hakim] He's dead! Jesus Christ, he's dead!

I'm telling you, man, he's dead.

[man 3] On God, fellas, that dude took bullets.

We fired again and again, and they crashed.

Your boy shot him point blank.

Right in the head, bro.

This was a murder that was ordered,

planned, and above all, discussed in real time

on the Sky ECC messaging app.

We're talking about a messaging service

used for criminal activity.

It's an app that is marketed and designed

for criminal organizations.

[Le Rent] I'll dump the whole clip. You won't know what hit you.

[David] This messaging service allowed

nearly 160,000 individuals

to exchange encrypted data

that was related to crimes, especially around drugs.

[dramatic music playing]

[Bertillon] I work for the cybercrime unit,

so I immediately saw the enormous potential of this case.

But to be able to read messages from the world's biggest criminals in real time,

I was gonna have to pull off successfully infiltrating the messaging service.

[man] Sky ECC is the most secure messaging platform you can buy.

[David] We're dealing with people

who have no regard for human life.

And who, ultimately, lack any empathy.

That's the kind of people we're up against.

I knew this was going to be one of the most complicated cases

I've ever had to handle.

[tense music playing]

[indistinct chatter]

[engine revving]

THE NARCO HACK: WHEN THE POLICE INFILTRATE THE CARTEL

[footsteps]

[Frédéric] Sky ECC is a kind of safe

that you should be able to open.

EPISODE 1 UNHACKABLE PHONES

In 2016, we started seeing a whole bunch of phones

that were completely unreadable.

FRÉDÉRIC VAN LEEUW BELGIAN FEDERAL PROSECUTOR (2014-2024)

[Frédéric] We often seized them from traffickers.

And for the first time, we were faced with a phone

that we truly didn't know how to unlock.

Some of these phones shut down

or wipe their own entire data.

When they did, we were left with a half-dead device

that we couldn't seem to activate,

which obviously piqued our curiosity.

A Sky ECC phone is basically just a normal phone

that's stripped of all its features,

leaving only a basic chat system on the device for use.

a job is coming from French Guiana

Sky ECC offers the ability...

to remotely wipe the phone.

[dramatic music playing]

When we learned that, we realized that the threat

was quite significant.

We knew that if we couldn't find a way to access

these communications,

we'd be faced with a sort of a black hole situation.

And a whole series of events could follow

that we wouldn't be able to see coming

and therefore, wouldn't be able to prevent.

[motorcycle engine whirring]

MARSEILLE NORTHERN DISTRICTS

[Albert] Back then, when I was 15 living in Marseille, I had my own scooter,

and I was working a low-level job.

That may seem young, but in Marseille,

everyone starts around that age.

My job was to buy phones.

Brand-new ones for 200 or 300 euros.

Then I would take them to the person

who set up the phones.

An hour later, I was told to pick up the same phones

and to take them to a couple of housing projects in Marseille.

When I arrived at the delivery location,

I was given 2,000 euros for each phone.

That's when I thought to myself,

"Shit. This is amazing."

"ALBERT" DEAL OUTLET MANAGER

SKY PHONE RESELLER 15 YEARS IN THE BUSINESS

They can't recognize me from my nose, can they?

[director] No.

I don't know a single person who spoke out,

whether to the press or the police,

with their face uncovered and made it out alive.

[music continues]

I never delivered a phone with Sky ECC

to a lawyer, a reporter, or even a mother.

It was only to traffickers.

It was just to drug traffickers, arms dealers, hitmen.

A couple of times, the guys were so suspicious,

I thought to myself, "They're not dealers,

they're straight up terrorists."

[suspenseful music playing]

[José] My name is José, and I'm from South America.

"JOSÉ" COLOMBIAN DRUG TRAFFICKER

IMPORTING COCAINE INTO EUROPE FOR 27 YEARS

SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON

I've been in this game for a while.

I have a lot to tell, but I can't tell you everything.

If you didn't have Sky...

Nobody would talk to you if you didn't have Sky.

Everyone used Sky.

I mean, those who could afford it, that is.

Because it was also a little pricey.

We're talking about 1,200 to 1,8000 euros

for a brand-new phone.

And after six months, you had to pay another 600 euros

to extend it again.

Some people used it for...

well, as you would say, drugs.

Others used it to steal, and others still used it to kill.

It was a lot of people using it, a lot.

Sky made things a little easier.

You could make a lot of money with Sky.

Are you able to get 2 or 3 kg? I'll pay you cash

I'll add lookouts, bringing the total pay to 930 euros

If the margin on weed is 6,000 a day, your take is 1,500

[Albert] Real talk, if you're with friends

and you unlock your phone in front of them

to show them you have Sky,

that's a sign that they have to respect you.

Tell brodie to get his tools and gloves so he can bust his ass

Bro, we'll just finish him off.

Then they know you're talking to dangerous people.

[laughing] Let me tell you,

it is something that is super dangerous,

in every sense of the word.

[Albert] One day, I was about to sell drugs right at the storefront.

And I got caught red-handed with a bag containing drugs.

My Sky phone just kept ringing.

I had those blue notifications, so they took it from me.

They put me in custody for drug trafficking.

An hour later, by the time I got to the police station,

the phone had been completely wiped.

-[static] -[dramatic music playing]

[vibrates]

[Albert] The police turned it on,

and all they saw was the word "hello" on it.

"Hello."

As if it was a brand-new phone.

[tense music playing]

[Johanna] The drug traffickers on this messaging app think they're untouchable.

They think they're well hidden, that we won't come after them.

What I love is figuring out how we can outsmart them.

Swimming allows me to relax and think at the same time.

And things become crystal clear.

My role, of course, was to dismantle the Sky ECC scheme

and arrest those who knowingly distributed it.

[dramatic music playing]

Sky ECC phones aren't something

you can just go and buy at your local cell phone store.

They're always sold secretly, under the table.

They buy them out on the street, where the purchasing happens

very discreetly, it's all kept under the radar.

There are no credit cards used when purchasing them,

no traceable payments, it's just cryptocurrency or cash.

JOHANNA BROUSSE DEPUTY PROSECUTOR HEAD OF THE CYBERCRIME UNIT

At this stage of the investigation,

we believed there were already

several thousand users on this messaging app.

So, for me, the first step was to look into the parent company,

the company that sold it.

It was called Sky Global.

A company based in Canada.

[sirens wailing]

And they presented themselves as an exemplary company in every respect.

[automated voice] Sky ECC is committed to respecting

the rules and laws of the jurisdiction

in which it operates.

What they wanted to convey was that

they were there to protect their clients.

They were the ones who would protect their trade secrets.

[automated voice] Security of communications is essential for lawyers.

For journalists, it was meant to ensure

confidentiality of communications with sources.

[automated voice] Protect journalist with encrypted communications.

On the surface, it's a company that fully complied with the law.

[dramatic music playing]

The CEO of Sky Global is Jean-François Eap.

He's the one who actually designed the solution.

And he's the one responsible for marketing Sky ECC phones worldwide.

We knew he worked with his family,

and that family plays a very important role for him,

since both his father and mother were involved in Sky Global.

We also knew that he was in a relationship with someone.

And we knew that he bought a property in Canada

for over eight million Canadian dollars.

But who was he really?

What were his motivations behind this?

That's the stuff we didn't know.

[music continues]

We wanted him to explain to us why this sort

of messaging service was ever created.

So, we summoned him to a hearing,

what's known as a preliminary hearing.

But he never came to that.

Jean-François Eap never showed up.

We were, however, able to identify

one of the companies high-level distributors,

one of the main distributors in Europe

who we know worked very closely with Jean-François Eap.

[suspenseful music playing]

[man] We believe some things should remain private.

[Thomas] My name is Thomas Herdman.

[man] You should have control over your conversations.

You have the right to privacy.

[Thomas] I grew up in Canada, North Vancouver, actually.

But here in France, in Paris,

I don't know anybody. I know no one in this country.

I can't do anything but...

Awaiting trial.

Well, there's 22 charges.

This is probably too long for an interview.

Whether that be...

drug trafficking, laundering the proceeds of drug trafficking.

Everything comes down to that.

So I remember when that woman asked me

if I was Thomas Herdman,

and she said, "I'm gonna have to detain you."

I asked if I was under arrest, and she said yes.

[dramatic music playing]

I was put in prison for four years,

and I'm still in prison...

with this.

We were only selling Sky ECC subscriptions.

At the beginning,

it was probably-- it was probably May...

2017.

At that time, I worked for Lev-Up Technologies

as a Canadian company.

[man] Lev-Up facilitates the use of a CRM portal.

All our sales are done in Canada.

[Thomas] One day, my boss mentioned

that he had a new project,

that he had entered into a distribution agreement

with a company called Sky Global.

And he mentioned it as being very cool, cryptology.

And he says, "How about if I introduce you to...

my best friend?" as he put it,

Jean-François Eap, who is president of Sky Global.

I said, "Sure, yeah. Let's go take a look."

Jean-François was great.

And also, he's very young.

I think he was only 32 or 33 at the time.

He was a quiet man, but very, very powerful,

the way he talked to his employees,

and extremely intelligent.

I think his ideology, or his idea, regarding privacy,

was because of his mother and father

had actually experienced in Cambodia

the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge,

where you couldn't hide anywhere.

[dramatic music playing]

[distorted screams]

He was very adamant about his beliefs

that privacy was important, that he was doing something good.

Don't make any compromise on your privacy.

That's why the organization of the company

kept the client a long way

away from the developer,

which also protects the privacy of the user.

[pants]

[Johanna] Of course, we needed to understand this ecosystem

in order to identify and arrest the perpetrators.

The distribution system was truly pyramidal.

At the top of this pyramid, you have Sky Global.

They supplied Sky ECC phones to other companies, the distributors.

The distributors are essentially wholesalers

who purchase large quantities of phones

and then redistribute them through their resellers

in various countries.

The goal was to sell these phones

that were distinctly designed for criminal purposes.

[dramatic music playing]

BRUSSELS BELGIUM

[Frédéric] We put a lot of work into this investigation.

Then we realized that there were still thousands of users in Belgium,

compared to the number of phones in circulation.

So at that point, we tried to track down the people

who actually had these phones.

Because we had a strong sense that all these people

were involved in illegal activities.

So we tried to figure out what network was behind it

and how these phones worked.

We tried to trace where the connections were routed,

since everything went through servers.

A few months into that investigation,

we found that the servers could be located.

And that there might actually be a way to decrypt the data.

And that was a real game changer.

[dramatic music playing]

[Johanna] The servers used by Sky Global for its Sky ECC division

were located in Roubaix, France, at OVH, the web hosting company.

The Belgian and Dutch investigative agencies

were able to map out the IT architecture

of the Sky ECC solution,

and they asked us for permission to intercept traffic...

INTERCEPT = SPY

...on these servers hosted in France.

This would ultimately allow us to intercept

any and all messages entering the server, leased by the target.

[Johanna] This was a highly technical case.

That's why we called upon the best investigators

from all cybercrime units.

One of them was Bertillon.

[Bertillon] In the police force, I'm the only one with two computer monitors,

proving I'm a geek.

That's not my real face.

It's a face that's been replaced by artificial intelligence.

I have a family, and I just want to protect them,

so I'd rather not reveal my identity.

I like to be called Bertillon, in honor of Alphonse Bertillon,

who was the founder of forensic science.

"BERTILLON" ANTI-CYBERCRIME OFFICE (OFAC) INVESTIGATOR

Bertillon is a police officer who's always one step ahead of criminals.

He's able to decipher the most complex stuff that we get.

So when it comes to specialized computer issues,

we need an investigator like him.

I've always needed to understand how everything works.

It used to annoy my dad when I was a kid,

I'd take his VCR apart without knowing

how to put it back together.

But now I do.

[upbeat music playing]

ROUBAIX JUNE 24, 2019

When we went to Roubaix to look at the servers,

we were off to a bad start because we weren't dealing

with a virtual server, it was physical.

If you need to make a copy, you have to unplug it.

But unplugging a server's out of the question

'cause that would alert the company.

We realized there was a primary server,

and a backup server.

Pardon the acronym.

The primary server received data from Sky ECC

and then synchronized the data with the backup server.

We set up an interception point here and another there.

When it worked, we saw that between the two servers,

some of the data was transmitted in plain text.

It wasn't encrypted.

We could see, for example, Sky ECC phone activation data,

Sky ECC new user registration data.

And Sky ECC group creation data,

since the app allowed for group chats.

We were able to see all of that data.

But no messages.

We knew how to intercept communications.

But intercepting an encrypted phone system

like Sky ECC was a first.

Therefore, there were a lot of unknowns,

and we really didn't know if we'd be able

to decrypt these messages for sure.

So, we had to find other ways to investigate.

[Johanna] Police officers were overwhelmed and so were the judges.

They'd rather focus on cases that are perhaps more traditional.

And they figured that our chances of success with this were close to zero.

[dramatic music playing]

[Bertillon] At the cyber unit, we felt like we were

the only ones who believed in this case.

[Johanna] No one thought we'd be able to decipher these messages.

No one figured these messages would turn out to be a gold mine.

[Bertillon] Obviously, we had a strong suspicion this involved drug trafficking.

But people want proof. Just because we have suspicions

doesn't mean that's all there is to it.

Our colleagues in the narcotics unit were already swamped.

So it did scare them that the workload

that would follow was going to be enormous.

[tense music playing]

When I first started out,

there were more drug rings than bakeries in Marseille.

It was easier to buy drugs than a baguette.

Each ring dealt in cannabis and cocaine,

with others also trafficking ecstasy,

amphetamines, and even crack.

I know the drug trade inside and out.

I've done it all.

I started as a lookout, then a dealer.

I was even the boss of a small housing project for a while.

The only breaks I ever took were when I went to jail.

It was always for drugs.

[dramatic music playing]

When I'm out of something, someone has to bring me weed or blow.

BLOW = COCAINE

I'll send a message on Sky ECC.

I'm running low on weed, bring me some.

I'm out of blow, bring me some.

Let me tell you the truth.

People don't speak in codes on Sky.

The only downside to the app is that you can't make direct calls.

You can send messages, photos, and voice notes,

but no direct calls.

[Johanna] This phone is in fact designed for one thing and one thing only.

And that is for Sky ECC messaging.

It turns out this messaging service was protected

by four layers of encryption,

which was supposed to make it unbreakable.

[dramatic music playing]

[Nicolas] The technical challenge was so significant

that the entire technical process was carried out

in cooperation with our Dutch and Belgian counterparts.

[upbeat music playing]

ANTWERP BELGIUM

[Geert] Some people refer to it as the Sky case.

But when I'm talking about it, it's always the Sky project.

It's a comprehensive project

involving the entire Belgian National Police

and judicial system.

[Jan] But it takes time and energy,

and a lot of resources

to be able to find any vulnerabilities.

OCTOBER 28, 2019

It was after a few months of trying to crack the code

that we realized we really needed to step up our efforts.

[elevator dings]

[upbeat music playing]

[elevator dings]

We dug up a group of technicians

and put them all up together in a hotel in Antwerp.

We gave them small snippets of encrypted code.

[Jan] We also gave them a bag of chips

and a few cans of Red Bull each.

Like real nerds, of course,

they can all speak a coded language that,

for humble lawyers like us two,

is incomprehensible.

[keyboard clacking]

[Geert] What we were trying to find were any weak passwords

that had been used.

We were also after any passwords

that had been reused multiple times.

No system is perfect.

[keyboard clacking]

[dramatic music playing]

There was definitely some progress made from doing this.

We focused primarily on what we call group chats,

which are protected by a unique key that you have to try to figure out.

When you want to communicate in a group chat with one another,

everyone needs to have the decryption key.

Otherwise, no one can see any messages.

So when a group is created, you have to share

this decryption key with all users.

[keyboard clacking]

During our ongoing interception attempts,

we realized the decryption key was visible.

[keyboard clacking]

We were able to link it to the group messages.

And eventually, we were able to grab

snippets of discussions and group conversations.

-How much Colombian? -You can swing by today

-I still have cash -Call before 12 to confirm

[Geert] One of the groups that we found, for example,

was a group chat named after a pier in the Port of Antwerp,

which is known for receiving large shipments of cocaine from South America

aimed at the European market.

[machine whirring]

[music continues]

Another group that we found was named the Antwerp Takeout.

I'm gonna guess this wasn't someone using the app to order a pizza.

[tense music playing]

[David] My name is David Alberto, I'm 48 years old.

I'm a divisional commander with the narcotics unit in Nanterre.

[chattering]

[David] I've been doing this job for 23 years.

[group] Oh!

We were made aware that 500,000 messages

were being exchanged daily on the app.

Hundreds of new accounts were created every day as well.

The problem is that we only recovered

three or four percent of the communications,

which is basically just a tiny sample.

But once we started getting access to group messages

and started to understand what was being said, it's like in basketball,

when you're on the court, and you see a hole in the defense,

you just wanna...

drive right in.

[indistinct chatter[

[dramatic music playing]

And tell me how many kilos it can hold and the prices.

[suspenseful music playing]

Start with 500 kg

People want volume, they know about the hideout.

[motorcycle engine whirring]

At the time, I was working for the Boss of Marseille.

The guy used to run Marseille.

On Sky ECC, the boss was in several groups.

He had his security group for weapons and commandos.

He had his field group for where the actual drug deal spots were.

At 10:00 a.m. sharp, he'd send a message

to each of his drug spot managers, one by one.

He'd ask if the shop had been opened and to send a photo.

When I opened shop, I'd send the seller's photo

to a group chat that included just about everyone involved in the ring.

Then around 1:00 p.m., he'd send another message.

"How much have you made in three hours?"

Then at 6:00, he'd ask, "How much have you made?"

Then around 8:00 p.m., he'd ask if the day went well.

And at midnight, he'd ask you to send him the sales report.

[dramatic music playing]

By himself, the boss has dozens of networks.

He controls about 20 neighborhoods.

[dramatic music playing]

Fifteen retail locations that bring in 50,000 euros a day,

minus the cost of labor.

You could say that every day, the Boss was pocketing a 100,000 euros.

Minimum.

At Sky, they knew full well that it wasn't choirboys

who were buying it.

You don't talk to your mom on Sky ECC.

[man] Sky ECC is the most secure messaging platform you could buy.

[train engine whirring]

Of course, I saw the danger

that it could be used for good purposes

and bad purposes.

But let's say it like this, if you work in a hotel,

do you ask people, "What do you do?"

"Where did you make your money to pay for this hotel?"

I mean, discretion is a part of business,

and this is a company that is selling privacy

and dealing with privacy.

So I'm not there to judge,

and I'm not even there to ask.

I'm there to just facilitate this business.

Jean-François Eap said, "Look, Tom,

we're selling privacy.

You will not know who buys it.

I do not know who buys it."

[car engines whirring]

[dramatic music playing]

[Johanna] Jean-François Eap, who ran this company,

even argued that he was a whistleblower himself.

That he was someone like Edward Snowden

who just wanted to protect people from mass surveillance.

But it turned out that in reality, it's quite the opposite.

[dramatic music playing]

So what evidence did we gather against him?

Well, we found evidence showing

that he knew perfectly well

that his product was being used by criminals,

and we learned that he even gave out instructions to keep the matter

from being discussed internally.

[Bertillon] We saw messages forwarded to Sky's distributors,

which are above the resellers in the chain.

These messages were very explicit about the activities

not only of the resellers but also of their customers.

We had very compelling evidence showing

the entire Sky chain of command was aware.

[Johanna] As for Thomas Herdman,

we found out that he was in contact

with criminal organizations.

We worked with the FBI, which set up an undercover operation

involving the resale of these encrypted phones.

[dramatic music playing]

[Thomas] One day, I think it was the end of June 2019,

an email inquiry went to the Sky Global website

asking for information about Sky ECC products.

[music continues]

Okay, we have some Americans interested in Sky ECC.

Jean-François Eap had said

that this is probably a good opportunity.

We have no business in the United States,

so maybe this is a little door

to get our foot through.

He said, "Just go down to LA, it's nothing.

It's three hours. Just go."

[inhales deeply] So, I went.

[dramatic music playing]

And we met at the Beverly Hills Spa Motel,

and I met Oleg...

and his associate.

We had lunch on a kind of noisy poolside.

It was only about an hour, I guess.

There was really nothing else to talk about.

[indistinct radio chatter]

[Johanna] The two FBI agents spoke with Thomas Herdman

that day while posing as drug dealers.

And Thomas Herdman agreed to their request.

He agreed that he would help the drug cartel,

which was actually the FBI,

obtain Sky phones and launder money.

[dramatic music playing]

[Thomas] When I left the meeting,

I thought, "This is just too strange to be true."

You know? "They must be FBI," except for the fact

they didn't mention that they wanted

to use Sky for criminal purposes.

[music continues]

They did not identify their business any further

than saying that they were an exporter-importer.

REPORT SUBMITTED BY U.S. AUTHORITIES:

At the end of the meeting, Thomas Herdman sold him three Sky ECC phones.

Nothing during that interview

or during that discussion was about drugs.

The undercover agent told him

he was part of a criminal drug-trafficking organization.

And apparently, they had beautiful

noise reduction microphones. [laughs]

So this is the trap.

But a trap for what? [laughs]

And right now, I think that the only way

maybe they posed as drug dealers was they were wearing loud shirts or something.

Uh, maybe I should have known. [laughs]

[dramatic music playing]

JULY 4, 2020

[Johanna] After a year-long investigation,

we had a lot of information on Sky Global,

and we'd made significant progress.

We'd managed to get a look at the group messages,

but we still couldn't gain access

to the individual messages.

We wanted access to those individual messages.

[Bertillon] We felt completely frustrated over it.

Individual messages are more complicated

because you also need the decryption key,

which is stored on the person's phone.

So unless we had the physical phone,

there was no way at this stage of the investigation

that we could retrieve that key

and decrypt the messages sent between users.

[Johanna] We're always doubting ourselves.

We spend our lives doubting. Will we make it?

Will we see this case through?

[Bertillon] That's when the Dutch decided to go all out.

True to their pragmatic nature,

they sought out the valedictorian of an engineering school.

They offered him a six-month contract with the police and said,

"Here's the deal, your goal for the next six months is to solve this problem."

[tense music playing]

[Bertillon] He worked on it for six months.

That was our last hope.

Finding a way to retrieve that sort of information

from someone else's phone is extremely complicated.

[tense music playing]

[keyboard keys clacking]

In December of 2020, we got the best news of the investigation.

We learned that the young Dutch genius managed to crack the encryption system.

[upbeat music playing]

[Bertillon] We received a message from our superiors stating,

"The interception system is now capable..."

[all] "...of capturing the cryptographic secrets

needed to decrypt all messages."

I'm really not technical enough to know how they did it,

but it's very dangerous.

Being surveyed, relying on governments, is not the way to go.

The fruit will be shipped from Petrolina Airport

The plane is ready in Portugal.

It can carry 500 kg with ease

[Bertillon] That's when we started decrypting user-to-user messages.

We were no longer held back by encryption issues.

[dramatic music playing]

Is the coke in part of the bag?

We need some ecstasy here

Tell him I'm picking up 2 kg!

[suspenseful music playing]

They got in. I don't know how, but somehow they got into the system.

Then once they were in, they kept quiet,

so they could get as much information as they needed.

There were some idiots on there,

who used a spot that was left open,

and they sent a whole message saying,

"Hey, how much got in? How much did you sell? How much is it?"

I mean, they used Sky for everything.

We received all the messages the criminals sent.

There were photos.

There were written messages.

Audio clips.

[muffled chatter]

Tons of content. It was explicit.

You were right in the thick of it.

And they just kept running their little businesses

on there unassumingly.

And we saw everything that was going on.

[Bertillon] I had never seen so many photos of cocaine

in cargo ships in my life.

We're not talking about just a kilo.

[David] I was like a kid in a toy store who's told, "Pick whatever you want."

That's how many there were.

We discovered the absolute horror

these criminal organizations are capable of inflicting.

And then some usernames started popping up.

[Jan] So because of that, we found out the users' nicknames

that they were going by.

[David] They signed them.

There's a lot of Tony Montanas, Scarfaces,

Al Pacinos, being used in the drug culture.

But when you come across usernames

like "Hitler" or "Putin," you're dealing with someone

who holds a very high position in the drug trade.

We figured we'd have a chance to identify the major criminals

hiding behind these names, so we could arrest them.

[credits music playing]