Dutch and French authorities have intercepted and monitored the messaging service for three months, writes Europol in a press release.
During the investigation, more than 2.3 million messages in 33 languages were captured and decrypted. The communication has, among other things, concerned serious crime, including international drug and weapons trafficking as well as money laundering.
Authorities in France, the Netherlands, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, and Germany carried out a joint operation on Wednesday to shut down the service.
Three suspects were arrested in France and Spain, and several house searches were conducted in Lithuania. The service's servers in France and Germany were shut down.
The platform's users are now met with a message informing them that the countries' police authorities and Europol are controlling the service and have access to their messages.
Matrix is the latest in a series of encrypted messaging services – including Encrochat, Sky ECC, and Ghost – that have been cracked and shut down.
