An alleged prominent seller of Anom phones, the encrypted phone company secretly run by the FBI, has arrived in the U.S. to face charges, according to recently filed court records. Alexander Dmitrienko made his first appearance in a San Diego courtroom earlier this month.
The news shows the continued fallout from the FBI’s Operation Trojan Shield, in which it took control of Anom early in the company’s life, worked with its owner to enter a backdoor, and then read tens of millions of messages sent by hundreds of crime syndicates across the platform. In a twist, the U.S. also charged more than a dozen people who allegedly made millions of dollars selling Anom phones to criminals, albeit without the knowledge Anom was puppet mastered by the authorities. Essentially, Dmitrienko allegedly worked unknowingly for the FBI and is now being criminally charged for that work.
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“Not guilty plea entered,” the docket in Dmitrienko’s case reads.
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Authorities originally arrested Dmitrienko around the time of Anom’s closure in June 2021, when the FBI and its partners in Europol and the Australian Federal Police revealed they had been mining Anom for intelligence. Dmitrienko was based in Spain, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release at the time.
Dmitrienko is just the second of those alleged Anom sellers to stand before a U.S. court. The first was Aurangzeb Ayub, who appeared in San Diego court in March 2022.
In October 2022 Thai police arrested Shane Ngakuru, a member of the notorious Comancheros biker gang. Ngakuru is wanted in New Zealand for allegedly importing cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA. But he is also one of the alleged Anom sellers that U.S. authorities charged. Thai media reported at the time that police handed Ngakuru over to the FBI, but the docket does not show Ngakuru yet having made an appearance in court. Ngakuru is the cousin of Duax “Dax” Hohepa Ngakuru, the current leader of the Comancheros. Turkish authorities arrested Dax in January.
“Police can confirm that this individual has been arrested in Turkey. NZ authorities are awaiting further decisions from the Turkish Government to determine the next steps for his return to New Zealand,” the New Zealand Police told Motherboard at the time. Police around the world have made over 1,000 arrests of people who allegedly used the Anom platform to plan and execute crimes.
Crucially, some of Anom’s alleged top sellers remain free, including Hakan Ayik, the head of the so-called Aussie Cartel that controls a massive slice of drug importations into Australia and generates over a billion dollars a year. Ayik was also the main driving force behind Anom’s global expansion.
Dmitrienko’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
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