Australian Osemah Elhassen Captured In Colombia, Trapped By FBI’s ANOM Fake Messaging App

Colombia’s attorney general, the police’s DIJIN investigative unit, and Interpol coordinated operations last month to capture Osemah Elhassen, an Australian citizen wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) based on charges filed in the Southern District of California.

Colombia’s attorney general indicated that Elhassen is wanted for belonging to a transnational drug trafficking network active in Europe, Asia & South America.

Recently, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that it detected the location of the Australian citizen and more than 500 other global criminals thanks to the launch of a mobile messaging smartphone app called ‘ANOM’. This system, created in conjunction with the Australian Federal Police, was distributed via the “dark web” in a targeted and secret way to different criminal groups around the world as a supposed secure communication mechanism.

In reality, the data and information shared over this app was being monitored by United States federal law enforcement authorities, the true designers and distributors of the app.

The International Affairs Directorate of the Colombian prosecutor’s office, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed the United States Embassy about the capture of Osemah Elhassen for the purposes of formalizing the extradition request within the term established by law.