The Hague — A 32-year-old Australian “computer geek” has been arrested on suspicion of building an encrypted messaging app used by hundreds of criminals worldwide to arrange drug deals and order killings, police said Wednesday. Australian Federal Police said the Ghost app was marketed to underworld figures as “unhackable” and was used by hundreds of suspected criminals from Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

But unbeknownst to users, global policing authorities did hack the network and were watching as the criminals discussed illicit drug trafficking, money laundering, homicides and serious violence.

Authorities made their move Tuesday and Wednesday, arresting criminals from Italy, Ireland, Sweden, Canada and Australia — including Jay Je Yoon Jung, the alleged “mastermind” of the app.

Europol executive director Catherine De Bolle said law enforcement from nine countries had been involved in the international sting.

“Today we have made it clear that no matter how hidden criminal networks think they are, they can’t evade our collective effort,” she said.

“This was a truly global game of cat and mouse, and today the game is up,” Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, Europol’s deputy executive director, told reporters in agency’s headquarters in The Hague.

Authorities dismantled an Australian drug lab while weapons, drugs and more than $1.1 million worth of cash have been seized globally, the EU policing agency added.

Ghost, a kind of WhatsApp for criminals, was created nine years ago and could only be accessed via modified smartphones that sold for about Aus$2,350 (US$1,590).

The hefty price tag included a six-month subscription to the Ghost app and tech support, Australian police said Wednesday, and users were required to purchase an ongoing subscription.

French police traced the creator’s location to Australia and joined forces with local police to target the platform.

The app’s creator regularly pushed out software updates but, in 2022, Australian police were able to hijack those updates to access encrypted content.

For two years, authorities watched as Ghost became more popular and criminals exchanged messages – including 50 death threats that Australian police said they were able to thwart.

Several thousand people worldwide use Ghost and around 1,000 messages are exchanged on it every day, according to Europol.

There were 376 phones with the Ghost app installed in Australia alone.

In one case, police intercepted an image of a gun to someone’s head and were able to save that person within the hour, Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Kirsty Schofield said.

Ireland, which was second in terms of Ghost users, was able to dismantle “a primary drugs trafficking route into our country and in doing so have seized drugs with an approximate street value of 16 million euros,” Justin Kelly, assistant police commissioner, was quoted as telling The Irish Times.

Hacking into encrypted apps on phones has become increasingly challenging for authorities, but not impossible. Three years ago, the takedown of a similar network called ANOM led to 800 arrests worldwide.

Little did they know, ANOM was produced and distributed by the FBI, allowing U.S. and other nations’ law enforcement to decrypt 27 million messages, many of which related to criminal activity.

Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner Ian McCartney said after the ANOM network unravelled, Ghost started to “fill that space.”

He added that law enforcement was aware of other similar encrypted apps and that he hoped some of these would be shut down within 12 months.

Europol said encrypted communications had become “increasingly fragmented” after other services were disrupted or shut down, leading criminals to diversify their methods.

McCartney said the Ghost app creator, from New South Wales, lived at home with his parents and did not have a criminal history.

The “computer geek” was driven by profit and was “slightly surprised” when police arrested him Tuesday, McCartney said.

Schofield added that police had to act quickly given the man had the ability to “wipe the communications on the system.”

“Our tactical teams were able to secure him and the devices within 30 seconds of entry,” she said.

The 32-year-old was charged with five offenses, including supporting a criminal organization, which carries a sentence of up to three years’ imprisonment.

He appeared in a Sydney court on Wednesday and was denied bail, with no future court date set.

Another 38 people have been arrested across Australia.

As the number of electric vehicles on U.S. roads continues to rise, concern has emerged about the ability of existing safety infrastructure to handle their increased weight. Guardrails and other roadside safety barriers, typically tested against vehicles weighing around 5,000 pounds, are now being challenged by EVs that often exceed that weight.

In January, a 2021 Tesla crashed into a guardrail on the 405 Freeway in Irvine, California. The vehicle appears to have smashed through the barrier and careened off the roadway, ultimately killing the driver.

Researchers at the University of Nebraska are testing how U.S. infrastructure matches up to EVs. They crashed a 7,000-pound electric pickup — weighing 2,000 pounds more than a gas-powered pickup — at 62 mph into concrete barriers commonly used as freeway medians. The barriers contained the collision, but chunks of concrete were sent flying, and several of the 5,000-pound barriers were pushed back 10 feet — 50% more than normal.

“Unfortunately, these guardrail systems, which have performed very well with gasoline vehicles historically, do not appear to be containing electric vehicles when impacting the similar types of conditions,” said Cody Stolle, a University of Nebraska associate professor who has been studying the issue.

Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer said there has to be a greater awareness regarding the current standards for guardrails and barriers to encourage further research.

“It was eye-opening. There was a lot of damage. And again, if there would’ve been vehicles on the other side of that barrier, we would’ve seen a severe accident,” said Fischer.

A guardrail is supposed to work by containing a vehicle and redirecting it back toward the road. But in a recent test by the Texas Transportation Institute, a standard guardrail failed when an electric sedan hit it, raising further concerns about the ability of existing infrastructure to handle the heavier weight of EVs.

More than 19,000 people died in crashes where their vehicle left the roadway last year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This makes up nearly half of all traffic deaths. Guardrails and similar roadway barriers are designed to reduce the number and severity of these crashes.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy are concerned about the additional weight from EVs causing more severe crashes.

“Our guardrails and crash attenuators, they are rated up to 5,000 pounds. Many of these [electric] vehicles go up to 10,000 pounds, so that has an impact on safety,” Homendy said during a Senate hearing in March.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that half of all new car sales will be EVs by 2032, leaving limited time to address these concerns and upgrade roadside safety barriers.