Operation Trojan Shield

October 2018, Criminal communications
Led by Federal Bureau of Investigation, Australian Federal Police

Verified core entry, last reviewed August 21, 2026

What was taken down?

Law enforcement operated the platform itself from inception; more than 27 million messages collected from roughly 12,000 devices across more than 300 criminal syndicates; network shut down at the action week.[1][2][4]

See what happened

What happened to the people?

Officials reported 17 charged and 800 apprehended.
9 charged named in the public record.
Group accounted for: Likely complete

See people and accountability

Did it stay down?

After this action later activity was recorded, though its link to the original is not established. High confidence in the link between the two.

See what happened afterward

The FBI and Australian Federal Police designed and covertly operated the ANOM encrypted device network for roughly three years, reading messages in real time before executing a global action week.[1][2][4]

Announced June 8, 2021.

Date: October 1, 2018 to June 8, 2021
Target: ANOM, encrypted communications network
Activity: Criminal communications, Trafficking and exploitation
Operational lead: FBI and AFP
Partners: Europol, USAO-SDCA, and 1 more[1][2]

European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation , coordinator

United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California , charging

Polismyndigheten , supporting
Jurisdiction: United States, Australia, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Lithuania, New Zealand, and European Union
Outcome: Law enforcement operated the platform itself from inception; more than 27 million messages collected from roughly 12,000 devices across more than 300 criminal syndicates; network shut down at the action week.
Status: Completed
Legal mechanism: US court authorization for interception via a third country; Australian legislation; European Investigation Orders; Europol and Eurojust coordination
Group accounted for: Likely complete

Infrastructure

1 command and control server taken over and 12,000 user accounts searched.

1
command and control server taken over: approximately 12,000
user accounts searched

Identifier	Recorded as	Status	Notes
Not published	1 command and control server	Taken over	The platform was designed and operated by law enforcement from inception rather than seized from an existing operator.[1]
Not published	approximately 12,000 user accounts	Searched	Approximately 12,000 devices across more than 300 criminal syndicates; more than 27 million messages collected.[1]

Domains and onion addresses are shown defanged. Where the record gives a count but no identifier, the count is shown in place of one. This list carries only what appears in the cited sources.

9
charged

Figures count individuals named in charging documents and official statements, each person once per outcome. People alleged to be involved but not publicly identified are not counted.

Reported and named. Officials reported 17 charged and 800 apprehended. 9 charged named in the public record. The two figures come from different places and are never added together. Officials publish a headline total, and this index counts only the individuals it can name from the cited record.

Person	Role	Current public status
	Distributor of ANOM hardened encrypted devices	Charged
Charging authority United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California Main charges Racketeering conspiracy Case number Not established in the public record Arresting authority Not established in the public record Arrest location Not established in the public record Extradition status Not established in the public record Conviction or plea Not established in the public record Sentence Not established in the public record Segment Affiliate Sources [3] Full record Everything indexed for Alexander Dmitrienko
	Distributor of ANOM hardened encrypted devices	Charged
Charging authority United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California Main charges Racketeering conspiracy Case number Not established in the public record Arresting authority Not established in the public record Arrest location Not established in the public record Extradition status Not established in the public record Conviction or plea Not established in the public record Sentence Not established in the public record Segment Affiliate Sources [3] Full record Everything indexed for Aurangzeb Ayub
	Distributor of ANOM hardened encrypted devices	Charged
Charging authority United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California Main charges Racketeering conspiracy Case number Not established in the public record Arresting authority Not established in the public record Arrest location Not established in the public record Extradition status Not established in the public record Conviction or plea Not established in the public record Sentence Not established in the public record Segment Affiliate Sources [3] Full record Everything indexed for Domenico Catanzariti
	Distributor of ANOM hardened encrypted devices	Charged
Charging authority United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California Main charges Racketeering conspiracy Case number Not established in the public record Arresting authority Not established in the public record Arrest location Not established in the public record Extradition status Not established in the public record Conviction or plea Not established in the public record Sentence Not established in the public record Segment Affiliate Sources [3] Full record Everything indexed for Dragan Nikitovic
	Distributor of ANOM hardened encrypted devices	Charged
Charging authority United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California Main charges Racketeering conspiracy Case number Not established in the public record Arresting authority Not established in the public record Arrest location Not established in the public record Extradition status Not established in the public record Conviction or plea Not established in the public record Sentence Not established in the public record Segment Affiliate Sources [3] Full record Everything indexed for Edwin Harmendra Kumar
	Distributor of ANOM hardened encrypted devices	Charged
Charging authority United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California Main charges Racketeering conspiracy Case number Not established in the public record Arresting authority Not established in the public record Arrest location Not established in the public record Extradition status Not established in the public record Conviction or plea Not established in the public record Sentence Not established in the public record Segment Affiliate Sources [3] Full record Everything indexed for Joseph Hakan Ayik
	Distributor of ANOM hardened encrypted devices	Charged
Charging authority United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California Main charges Racketeering conspiracy Case number Not established in the public record Arresting authority Not established in the public record Arrest location Not established in the public record Extradition status Not established in the public record Conviction or plea Not established in the public record Sentence Not established in the public record Segment Affiliate Sources [3] Full record Everything indexed for Miwand Zakhimi
	ANOM device distributor	Sentenced
Charging authority Not established in the public record Main charges Racketeering conspiracy Case number Not established in the public record Arresting authority Not established in the public record Arrest location Not established in the public record Extradition status Not established in the public record Conviction or plea Not established in the public record Sentence 63 months imprisonment Segment Facilitator Sources [4] Full record Everything indexed for Osemah Elhassen
	Distributor of ANOM hardened encrypted devices	Charged
Charging authority United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California Main charges Racketeering conspiracy Case number Not established in the public record Arresting authority Not established in the public record Arrest location Not established in the public record Extradition status Not established in the public record Conviction or plea Not established in the public record Sentence Not established in the public record Segment Affiliate Sources [3] Full record Everything indexed for Seyyed Hossein Hosseini
	Distributor of ANOM hardened encrypted devices	Charged
Charging authority United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California Main charges Racketeering conspiracy Case number Not established in the public record Arresting authority Not established in the public record Arrest location Not established in the public record Extradition status Not established in the public record Conviction or plea Not established in the public record Sentence Not established in the public record Segment Affiliate Sources [3] Full record Everything indexed for Shane Ngakuru