Operation Dark Phone- Murder by Text (2025) Season 1 Episode 2

CinemaJourney

#CinemaJourney #Operation Dark Phone- Murder by Text #Operation Dark Phone

Transcript

00:00Transcribed by ESO, translated by —

08:15Cheshire colleagues at City View, stop short, stop short.

08:18Rothwell is clearly very well versed in police tactics,

08:21in methods that would be used to try and locate him,

08:24but actually the people directly responsible for the shooting

08:27were much less sophisticated.

08:29We quickly identified the vehicle that was used,

08:32we were able to trace that vehicle,

08:34and that led to us being able to identify

08:37who the people were who were actually present during the shooting.

08:40We didn't have to use any of the ENCO trap messages

08:52for him to be arrested,

08:54so we could protect the source of the intelligence.

09:06Stand up! Stand up!

09:09Face me!

09:10Face me now!

09:12Walk towards me, slowly!

09:14Slowly!

09:15Say, Mark.

09:16Slow!

09:17Slow!

09:17I don't know.

09:47I don't know.

10:17Bethwell was becoming increasingly concerned and about coming to the attention of the police.

10:47The 6th of May was important for us because Jamie was out of the apartment.

11:04There was a police officer who was vigilating, when he saw him out of the vestibule, he was

11:12wearing glasses.

11:13He was very masked.

11:20Then he came out, contacted with a person who had come with a scooter.

11:32The police tried to follow him to where he could to not alert him.

11:39The problem was that we couldn't stop him at that time because the police was alone.

11:44Well, we didn't know if he could go armed.

11:49We thought that he would have left with that person, who would have gone to any contact,

11:56and that he would be back home.

12:00The problem was that he didn't return to the house.

12:07I was pissed off.

12:14I was pissed off because I thought, well, he's gone now.

12:17And that's generally what I felt.

12:18I just thought, you know, we're not going to see him again because he's left.

12:22And when I viewed that CCTV video and he's got his hat on and his glasses and his gloves

12:28to hide his tattoos, he's evading capture.

12:30So for me, I genuinely thought that that was it and we wouldn't see him again.

12:52We are receiving more and more messages as each day goes on.

12:59And there are some operational successes occurring.

13:06Because criminals hadn't caught on at all to the fact that we were into their phones,

13:11we could absolutely keep this operation going.

13:14What more time we gave us is the opportunity to see more of the global picture.

13:21It was absolutely clear from reading the enquiry chat messages

13:25that the Netherlands is a significant centre for serious organised crime.

13:30There were many highly placed and very influential criminals based in the Netherlands.

13:51There were many Dortmunds who won't

14:20What taste do you have, Andy?

14:35It doesn't matter.

14:37The suit out?

14:39Yeah, suit out, yeah.

14:43I have a background in the military.

14:46And we used to say that when you control communication, you control the operation.

14:52So that's basically what is in my mind as the chief of this operation in the Netherlands.

14:57Immediately, I have set up hundreds of detectives who can work day and night to analyze the data.

15:03The AnchorChat investigation showed me that the drug criminality is growing exponentially with everything involved in it.

15:16The Dutch have always been traders.

15:20Bringing in goods and then exporting them again to the rest of Europe is a big part of the Dutch economy.

15:26But with that legal activity comes illegal activity.

15:33The amount of tropical fruits that are being imported into Dutch harbors supplies the whole of Europe.

15:40So if you have a regular trading route of, let's say, pineapple, it's very easy to exchange 500 kilos of fruits for 500 kilos of coke.

15:52And that's why the Netherlands became the logistical hub for cocaine trafficking.

15:58Unfortunately, with the cocaine comes the money and with the money comes the violence.

16:26It's very easy to exchange.

16:31In the past, we had attacks on media companies.

16:35We've had the brother of a crown witness murdered.

16:38The lawyer of a crown witness got murdered.

16:41And recently, Mr. Peter Ederfries, who was a renowned crime journalist, who got shot.

16:47That's like a new generation of criminals who are super wealthy, who've got access to heavy weapons, and who are not afraid to use them.

16:58You get shock after shock.

17:00But the Anchor Chat investigation reveals us that, yeah, still there was more to come.

17:06Let's get out of it!

17:09We agreed to him again.

17:10On Montano, we met Carl South querer, and his sister's house.

17:25Anyway, everyone left us here.

17:27I don't know.

19:58My team leader showed me those pictures, and it is a surreal moment.

20:03Those criminals were building an underworld prison and an underworld torture facility.

20:08Our most experienced detectives, they've never seen such plans before.

20:15I was like, wow, a torture chamber?

20:19That's insane.

20:20They call it the Bahambo Kama, which means the operating room.

20:25And they had chains to tie people up, torture equipment, like garden scissors, pliers.

20:33They had a massive freezer being put there.

20:36I don't know why, but you can put a man in that freezer.

20:40Everything you could think of was there, and that's what I find scary.

20:44The violence is not impulsive, but it's part of a business model.

20:50You need to grasp that moment for a while, and then you think, this is what's happening here in the Netherlands, on our grounds.

20:59So immediately, we start up a new operation, a big operation on this group.

21:04The question then becomes, who are the real people behind these nicknames, and why are they building this torture chamber?

21:11The question then becomes, who are the real people behind these nicknames, and why are they building this torture chamber?

21:41The question then becomes, who are the real people behind these nicknames, and why are they building this torture chamber?

21:47I'm out.

22:11Oh

22:21Reve my mate

22:41R Frei

22:47Reve my mate

22:52Reve my mate

22:53Reve my mate

22:54Reve my mate

22:55Reve my mate

22:56Reve my mate

22:58Reve my mate

23:00Reve my mate

23:01Reve my mate

23:02Reve my mate

23:04Reve my mate

23:04Because of the jets

23:05We could see that there was a group out there

23:08Who's trying to kidnap

23:09And torture people

23:11Their plan was to form up a fake intervention team

23:15and just pretend to be police officers.

23:18And why?

23:19Because the victim will think it is police.

23:22Maybe I'm arrested by the police.

23:23I will go without resistance.

23:26It's just a trick that they do, and the trick is not new.

23:29But in this scale, this is pretty disturbing for us.

23:41The police see messaging between four different characters

24:05that seem to be related to this torture chamber.

24:09And these characters use nicknames.

24:12One nickname is Schlempo.

24:14He's in close contact with this handle Luxury Balloon.

24:20It seems that Luxury Balloon is higher in the hierarchy.

24:24And then there is Mystic Steak.

24:27And then there is a fourth person, a typical team.

24:31Identifying them is key for this whole investigation.

24:35Without it, you have a lot of interesting information,

24:38but no case.

24:39On the 3rd of April,

25:07police see messages from one of the members of the torture chamber group.

25:12Typical tea.

25:15It's apparent that he knows about a not-publicized investigation into money lottery,

25:23which means that there is some police officer

25:28allowing a criminal to read the police computer.

25:37The police officer is a very good person.

25:42The police officer is a very good person.

25:47Yes, it's good.

25:50You're coming.

25:52You're coming.

25:54You're coming.

25:56You're coming.

25:57Peace.

25:58Peace.

25:59Peace.

26:00Peace.

26:02Peace.

26:03Peace.

26:04Peace.

26:05Peace.

26:07Peace.

26:10Peace.

26:11Peace.

26:14Bye ポーム

26:19And at one point,

26:26At one point, corrupt contact tells them, listen, there is another very secret investigation.

26:39Of course, that is the AnchorChat investigation.

26:42And the only reason they don't know is because their corrupt contact has not clearanced to get into these files.

26:52For the police, this is a real tightrope.

26:54But at the same time, there's a number of tidbits which break them closer to identifying who are the real people behind, you know, all these messages.

27:05Because how many ongoing investigations into a car, money laundering, and a wife of a criminal are there?

27:13This is the type of very specific information that narrows the group of people down to a few.

27:21That's when the police start to fit the puzzle pieces.

27:25That's why I want to stir things up.

27:43Bye.

27:48I don't know.

28:18I don't know.

28:48I don't know.

29:18Bro, what the fuck are you doing?

29:23Clothes are blind.

29:48After about a week of things feeling like the trail has gone cold and we don't know

29:58where Jamie Rothwell is, I had a phone call again from a colleague in Spain to say that

30:03they'd identified a male who they believe was a friend of Jamie Rothwell's in a local supermarket,

30:13not far from where Jamie Rothwell would seem to leave that apartment.

30:33That building has cameras.

30:37We're going to see all the images of the previous days.

30:43Game on again.

30:54Ticking clock.

30:56We've only got a short period of time to actually do something now and actually arrest him.

31:01Because I know that he's already moved from one location, he's gone to another, and chances

31:06are he'll be looking to go somewhere else.

31:08So we have a short window, again, to try and arrest him.

31:13The Spanish police, they make the inquiries with the letting agent, and what do you know, Jamie

31:22complains about being on a low-level apartment and wants to move.

31:26So they send an undercover police officer in, masquerading as a prospective tenant for that

31:33flat that they think Jamie was in.

31:56Okay.

32:18Voilà.

32:20Oh,�ope.

32:24So when she goes in, there's one person in there who's not Jamie Rothwell.

32:54But when she's looking around this flat, pretending that she wants to actually rent it, she sees

33:06his clothes on the bed and they're the same clothes that he's wearing that when he left

33:11that previous apartment.

33:12Finally, after four or five weeks of tracking him down, we've got a hold of him.

33:25But I knew that this wasn't over until, you know, I was going to see a picture of him

33:31in handcuffs.

33:32So I'm over the moon because we know where Jamie Rothwell is.

33:46But then five seconds later, I'm not elated because I know that you can't just go and

33:52arrest him.

33:55Spanish police will need a European investigation order, a massive problem.

34:00And it just so happens that that problem was on a Friday and it was one of those ticking

34:04fucking clock.

34:05You've got me lad screaming happy about the mass homework.

34:07And then I'm trying to get this investigation order through Liverpool magistrate's court.

34:12So I send it over in English and he rings back and says, you know the bloke wants it in Spanish

34:15now.

34:16So I have to find an interpreter who was some lovely old lady and I rung her up and said,

34:21you've got two hours to translate this massive document.

34:24He's like, I said, you've got to do it.

34:27You get it across to them, whatever time it was, and that's what happened.

34:32God, it was a pissing nightmare.

34:45I can remember vividly going to bed knowing that the Spanish police were going to go through

34:51the door, I think at 5am UK time.

34:53And I actually remember having a dream about Jamie Rothwell.

35:07And then my wife waking me up because my phone's ringing and I actually still think I'm dreaming.

35:13And I bend down and pick it up and it's a colleague in Spain telling me that they've got hold of him.

35:20And by the time I woke myself up and worked out I wasn't dreaming, I'm sent a picture of him sat in handcuffs in that flat.

35:32And I know that when he sat there in that living room, he's thinking, fucking hell, I've been done over by the Spanish police here.

35:45He won't think that it's anything to do with that phone.

35:48There's nothing in any warrants to say it's because of Encro.

35:53So we knew at that point that the operation was still protected.

35:58And it's just a sense of relief because there was a definite risk that someone could have been killed as a result of his actions.

36:06The news, we've got a dance on it too.

36:36OK, Jamie.

36:38Whatever way you cut the cake with Jamie Rothwell, he's a dangerous individual.

36:43One of the most serious criminals I've ever tried to hunt down.

36:48He just had this ability to get people to do things for him.

36:52There's nine charges to go through.

36:54OK.

36:59If he's found guilty, he's looking at 20 to 25 years, I would say.

37:06As a direct result of Jamie Rothwell's arrest, we were able to take out key players and arrest a number of other individuals in the UK.

37:17It was really a sense of relief at that point.

37:23However, we knew we had to be really careful about what action to take.

37:28If we went out and made too many arrests very quickly, organised criminals would know something's up.

37:35They're reading our messages.

37:37I was aware that my counterparts in other countries were facing the same challenges that we were, pushing these investigations as far as they can.

37:47So, in Holland, the criminals, they're building a torture chamber.

37:50But the next question would be, who is this for?

37:52Who is going to be put in the torture chamber?

37:53Who is going to be put in the torture chamber?

37:54so in holland the criminals they're building a torture chamber but the next question would be

38:09who is this for who is going to be put in the torture chamber

38:24so

38:32so

38:34so

38:42so

38:46so

38:54if you start to read into the messages you see that there's conflict it's about money

39:06luxury balloon accuses this a1 of stealing part of his money and later on it turns out that they're

39:16talking about a hundred million euros so the police they go through all the police systems

39:24all the digital systems to see what do we know about this conflict that can lead to the possible

39:32people and they get like strong clues and evidence that luxury balloon is a handle that's used by

39:43a guy who's named Pete Costa everybody who's writing about organized crime had heard of Pete Costa he

39:52was a guy from Rotterdam who was considered the kingmaker of the drug cocaine trade this was the

40:00guy if he started working with you you would become a millionaire in weeks because that's real name is

40:09Roger P and Pete is like an abbreviation of his last name and Costa is a reference to Costa Rica a country

40:19in Central America that is known for its pineapples and then there's word in the underworld that he is

40:26the owner of a pineapple plantation in this area and that he uses this trafficking route of pineapple

40:35to hide his cocaine in the organization of Pete Costa had corrupt people working at customs in the

40:43Rotterdam harbor if you got that guy in your pocket you can tell him all right this container with that

40:48number put it on green don't check it so that makes that you can put like in the old days if you would

40:54do 200 kilograms of cocaine you're a big boy but now these guys would do six tons easy and it goes through

41:02I mean that's champions league cocaine smuggling but there's not much information about his personal

41:09life I mean we know that he's lived in in Spain but he's not like a public figure he's much more low-key

41:16and that's smart

41:18when I saw the photo of Pete Costa for the first time I thought he looks actually quite friendly

41:28you wouldn't think ah this guy made a hundred million trafficking cocaine

41:33my client is a normal Rotterdam guy with a bald head and always smiling he's very friendly

41:42he's a businessman he's not like Al Pacino or that kinds of people you know

41:52he doesn't do murders he doesn't order murders he doesn't do anything with violence he hates violence

42:00criminals when they ask about my clients they say he's a sweetie and yeah that's that's that's it

42:10he's a normal guy and the police says yeah a normal guy but you you're a big drug trafficker

42:15he says okay you approve it

42:45In the messages, they are talking about A1.

43:14So the next question is, who's Mr. A1?

43:18So the police went asking to their sources in the underworld, who's this guy, do you

43:23know who this is?

43:25And it turned out to be that this was a former business associate of Pete Costa.

43:32He was a guy in Dubai called Ali.

43:36And you hear all these stories that he used to work with Pete Costa, he ripped him off

43:40for millions.

43:42So for Luxury Balloon, it's very personal because he feels that this guy, Ali, has betrayed

43:49him.

43:50For me, as soon as I hear there is conflict about a hundred million euros, then you know

43:56this is serious shit.

43:59Then it all becomes clear, you know.

44:02The torture chamber was a revenge operation.

44:04They wanted to get Ali.

44:06And they wanted to treat him.

44:09So there was a plan of using corrupt contacts at Interpol in Dubai, where they want police

44:17arresting A1 and having him extradited out of the country.

44:23And then they could pick him up at Schiphol Airport and put him in the chair.

44:28When I read that, I was like, wow, so they also have corrupt contacts at Interpol in Dubai.

44:36This was an international drug trafficking group with hundreds of millions at stake.

44:43And they were already in a long term dispute with another gang.

44:47So their intention was to kidnap the competition.

44:50They're trying to get them in the prison, hold them for days and torture them.

44:56For the police to be able to witness this type of underworld conflict live has never been

45:04done before.

45:06And it's fascinating and scary at the same time.

45:11The dilemma at this point is they want to prevent the torturing and the kidnapping.

45:16But they also want to get as much evidence as possible.

45:22You know, you have to realize that this is still a secret operation running in France.

45:29There's investigations in Germany, big criminals in the UK being followed and there's investigations

45:34over there.

45:36So when the police in the Netherlands have to act, they have to do it in a way that they

45:42can try to save the rest of this investigation.

45:46The stakes are being upped extremely.

45:49It's shaping up to be a fantastic operation.

45:55And that's when I'm told by the team we can see messages that we're really worried about.

46:01There's a leak.

46:03There are some criminals who know that something is going on and when I learned that, obviously

46:09I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.

46:11It's working in her life.

46:12That's how long.

46:12But that is, with my own home, I wanted to know that, when before and I did that, I definitely

46:16got on the way that the team's going on.

46:18You've got to be a perfect solution for all of us.

46:19And that's what I want to do.

46:20And that's what I want to do.

46:22I want to be a better, that's what I want to do in my city.

46:23Transcription by CastingWords

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