The force said 426 people had been put away for a total of 3,722 years after the clampdown on EncroChat since March 2020.
Led by the National Crime Agency the blitz used data taken from the platform to identify criminals, solve murders and tackle the drug trade.
More than 1,200 people have been jailed nationally. Commander Paul Brogden, head of specialist crime at the Met, said it was “the most significant operation targeting organised crime figures in the Met’s history”.
EncroChat was a secret operating system accessed by a secure password on Android phones, with each user of the platform given a unique “handle” made up of a noun and an adjective.
The handsets, which cost £1,500, could only communicate with other EncroChat devices and could have all their data wiped if handed over to the authorities.
Commander Brogden said: “These criminals were using what we call a hard and secure communication device. Effectively it’s like a social media platform that criminals believed we couldn’t access.
“They were playing out their lifestyles [on EncroChat], trading drugs, ordering violence and murder here on the streets of London, and we could see that play out in a way we’ve never seen before.
It was a significant leap forward.” The platform messaged users urging them to get rid of their handsets after realising it had been compromised in June 2020 and it was shut down shortly afterwards.
Commander Brogden said many of those uncovered in the operation were “the kingpins” of organised crime networks in London.
He added: “They were sitting in their leafy enclaves and didn’t expect police to knock on their door and we did and brought them to justice. I’m incredibly pleased about that.”
The Met said 942 arrests had been made in Operation Eternal so far, with 784 of those charged and 426 convicted. Three tonnes of Class A and B drugs and 49 guns were also seized.
Naki Aslan, 39, a high-ranking gang member, was sentenced to 23 years for conspiring to import in excess of 20kg of heroin and cocaine as part of the operation.
Officers discovered Aslan used the EncroChat handle “junglecookie” to arrange transactions. Messages were also found showing Aslan attempted to source a pistol, to shoot a business associate in May 2020.
The EncroChat messages from Aslan read: “You got anyone to fire a couple of shots? From the waist down but urgent. I wanna get him popped ASAP.” Craig Turner, deputy director for investigations at the NCA, described the operation as yielding “one of the most stunning results” and said EncroChat gave the organisation “an absolute gold mine of intelligence”.
In the NCA operation 3,100 suspects were arrested and 1,867 charged, with 7,000 mobile devices collected and around 18 million messages logged.
Det Chief Insp Driss Hayoukane, senior investigating officer for Operation Eternal, said there were big trials coming with “iconic” criminals.
He added the force was working “at a pace” to make more arrests. With the Home Office the Met is looking at whether new laws were needed for encrypted platforms.
