The Sydney man already in custody on charges centred on being the alleged head of a global organised crime app has also been charged with a raft of new drug-related offences.
Last week in the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney, 32-year-old Jay Je-Yoon Jung was charged with six new offences as a result of ongoing AFP Operation Kraken investigations.
Operation Kraken is focused on taking down dedicated encrypted communications platforms.
Jung was arrested and faced five charges in September as the alleged head of Ghost, a dedicated encrypted communication platform which the AFP alleges was built solely for the criminal underworld.
Up to 50 alleged Australian offenders were also accused of currently using Ghost to traffic illicit drugs, money laundering, ordering killings and threatening serious violence.
It was also alleged a network of resellers was used to distribute specialised handsets to criminals across the globe.
These handsets – effectively modified smart phones – were sold for approximately $2,350 a piece and included a six-month, software-as-a-service type subscription to the encrypted communications app, which even came bundled with tech support.
In recent weeks, around $9.3 million in cryptocurrency was also seized from Jung’s home.
The assets were restrained after an analytics specialist deciphered the account’s ‘seed phrase’ following analysis of digital devices recovered from Jung’s home.
New charges
The six new charges laid last week as a result of ongoing Operation Kraken investigations include charges related to conspiring to traffic cocaine and the drug MDMA.
The maximum penalty for each of these offences is life imprisonment.
The other charges relate to dealing with more than $1 million derived from criminal activity and the possession of a dedicated encrypted communication device to commit serious criminal activity.
Jung has also been charged with one count of refusing to reveal encryption keys and passwords to the AFP.
He has been remanded in custody and is next due to appear again in Court on 13 November 2024.
Operation Kraken continues
The AFP’s Operation Kraken is part of a global push by law enforcement authorities to target organised crime.
The Ghost platform was created about nine years ago and has been a target of an international taskforce since 2022.
Europol established the global taskforce code named OTF NEXT, which was led by the FBI and French Gendarmerie, and includes the AFP, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Swedish Police Authority, Dutch National Police, Irish Garda Síochána and the Italian Central Directorate for Anti-Drug Service.
The Icelandic Police have also assisted the OTF.
While the AFP worked within the taskforce, it also established Operation Kraken after developing a covert solution to infiltrate Ghost.
To date results from Operation Kraken include 48 arrests, 97 search warrants conducted, and the intervention in 50 threats against people.
It has also prevented more than 212 kilograms of illicit drugs entering Australia and the seizure of 29 illicit weapons.
Around $2.6 million in cash has been seized and $11.12 million in assets have been restrained.
