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Dutch police say they monitored the criminal communications service known as Matrix for several months, intercepting more than 2.3 million messages before authorities took it down on 3 December 2024. The police have not publicly explained the specific technical method used to gain access. This Matrix service was separate from the legitimate Matrix communications protocol and company.
What happened in the Matrix takedown?
On 3 December 2024, Dutch and French authorities took down the criminal communications service Matrix, with follow-up actions in other countries. The Dutch National Police said investigators had intercepted more than 2.3 million messages, which could support investigations worldwide. Police also reported more than 40 servers in multiple countries. Dutch National Police, 3 December 2024
The operation involved cooperation among authorities in the Netherlands, France, Lithuania, Italy and Spain. Police reported two arrests in Marbella, Spain. These are police-reported operational details, not evidence that every person who used the service committed a crime. Dutch National Police
How investigators found the service
According to Dutch police, the investigation began after officers found a phone containing the service in the getaway car used in the July 2021 attack on crime journalist Peter R. de Vries. Investigators later established that a significant part of Matrix’s infrastructure was in France, prompting a Dutch-French joint investigation team. Police said an operational taskforce involving the Netherlands, France, Lithuania, Italy and Spain was established in June 2024. Dutch National Police
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What did police say they intercepted?
Police said they monitored Matrix communications for several months and encountered messages in 33 languages. NOS reported, citing police, that traffic was monitored live for three months and that the service had approximately 8,000 users. Those figures describe the scale of the operation and service as reported at the time; they do not establish that every user was involved in criminal activity. NOS, 3 December 2024
Authorities characterized intercepted messages as concerning international drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, money laundering and criminal networks. Such descriptions are police assessments of message content, not proof of guilt for any individual user. Dutch National Police
What was the Matrix criminal messaging service?
Police described Matrix as an app ecosystem for communications and related functions, including calling, transaction tracking and anonymized internet use. Access was invitation-based, and the service was offered under multiple names. Police said it was often installed on Google Pixel phones; that detail is descriptive, not a recommendation or evidence that Pixel devices themselves were compromised. Dutch National Police
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Police reported that a device with six months of service cost €1,300–€1,600 at the time. This is a historical price cited in the 2024 account, not a current offer. Dutch National Police
It was not the legitimate Matrix protocol
The criminal service shared its name with the legitimate Matrix company and communications protocol, but Dutch police explicitly said the two were not connected. The takedown concerned the criminal service, not the Matrix protocol or its legitimate users. Dutch National Police
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did police read Matrix messages?
The publicly available police account says specialist technical expertise enabled investigators to intercept and monitor communications. It does not specify how they obtained access. The account therefore does not establish that authorities broke a particular encryption algorithm, installed a backdoor, compromised users’ phones or exploited a named vulnerability. Calling the operation a “hack” does not fill in those missing technical details. Dutch National Police
Police official Stan Duijf described Matrix’s infrastructure and technology as more complex than those of earlier services Sky and Encro. That comparison is limited to the police’s stated assessment; it does not show that Matrix was categorically more secure or reveal how investigators accessed its messages. Dutch National Police
What happened after the takedown?
On 31 January 2025, the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service reported that a 30-year-old Dutch suspect had been transferred from Spain to the Netherlands. That is a procedural update, not a conviction. Netherlands Public Prosecution Service, 31 January 2025
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