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TV series

Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text

Latest episode

S1 E4

About Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text

Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text is a crime and documentary TV series that premiered on Channel 4 on July 27, 2025. It has 1 season and 4 episodes so far and has ended. The latest episode, Season 1 Episode 4, aired on July 30, 2025.

The incredible inside story of a huge police operation to infiltrate dangerous global crime gangs through their encrypted phone network. Operation Dark Phone : Murder by Text is the inside story the biggest ever joint law enforcement operation against a global network of organised crime groups who believed their encrypted phones were safe. Until a collaboration between international authorities - led in the UK by the National Crime Agency - managed to hack their phones to reveal the astonishing details of their messages. For the first time since the EncroChat network was infiltrated in 2020, the messages sent and the criminals exposed are exclusively revealed in a four part documentary series that tells the story in compelling and shocking detail. For 74 frantic days the authorities could read all the messages and sought to save lives and bring down the gangs, before the criminals realised their data was being captured.

  • Crime
  • Documentary

Last updated

Episodes

4 episodes · 1 season

Season 1

2025 · 4 episodes · Last episode: 1 year ago

Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text Season 1 release dates →
  1. Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text S1 E4 still E4

    4. Episode 4

    Finale

    Sixty days since the authorities first broke into the criminals' messages, it's approaching the beginning of the end of the EncroChat hack, as the owners become suspicious that they've been compromised. But as each batch of messages that have been given to the UK authorities are analysed, more and more criminality is exposed. Analysts reveal that it's the first time that they've ever come across exportation of drugs from the UK, as they discover half a tonne of ecstasy is bound for Australia.

  2. Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text S1 E3 still E3

    3. Episode 3

    As the National Crime Agency team mobilise to find the mole within their team, word gets out that there has been a fatal development in the investigation in the Netherlands. A leading crime journalist, Wouter Laumans, is quickly on the case. The murder victim is a very close friend of the crime boss who has built the torture chamber. The authorities fear a terrifying escalation when they uncover a plot to kidnap his enemy's family in revenge. It becomes increasingly clear that the authorities will soon have to reveal their hands if more deaths are to be avoided.

  3. Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text S1 E2 still E2

    2. Episode 2

    How one of the users in the encrypted chat was identified as he leader of one of the most dangerous organised crime groups in north-west England, now running his criminal enterprises from outside the UK. He had no idea that his messages had been intercepted and was planning coordinated shootings against the families of two of his enemies.

  4. Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text S1 E1 still E1

    1. Episode 1

    The inside story of the biggest ever joint law enforcement operation against a global network of organised crime groups who believed their encrypted phones were safe. For 74 frantic days the authorities could read all the messages and sought to save lives and bring down the gangs, before the criminals realised that their data was being captured.

Cast & crew

Created by Zac Beattie

  • Jan Meeus

    Self - Investigative Journalist

  • Wouter Laumans

    Self - Investigative Journalist

  • Andy Kraag

    Self - Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit, Netherlands

Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text FAQ

Will there be new episodes of Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text?

Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text has ended, so no new episodes are scheduled. The final episode aired on July 30, 2025.

When did the latest episode of Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text come out?

The most recent episode of Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text, Season 1 Episode 4, aired on July 30, 2025.

How many seasons of Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text are there?

Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text has 1 season with 4 episodes in total.

When did Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text first air?

Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text first aired on Channel 4 on July 27, 2025.

How do I get notified when new episodes of Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text are released?

Download the Streambay app, follow Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text, and you'll get a push notification the moment each new episode is released.

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