Police officials had come from across Europe to The Hague, Netherlands, gathering at the headquarters of Europol, the agency that coordinates law enforcement cooperation among European police forces, in early November 2024. There, they were meeting to secretly work together on a highly sensitive investigation into Black Basta, an elite gang of cybercriminals.

Even though the group was losing momentum, it still ranked among the world's most dangerous. It took aim at businesses and government agencies, showing no mercy, not even to hospitals. Virtually all of Europe's law enforcement and judicial agencies had it in their sights. As is often the case at such gatherings, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a powerful and long-standing partner of Europol, was present. Yet, at one point during the meeting, the FBI liaison officer invited a colleague to give a highly unusual presentation.

He had come to present a secret US government task force, known as "Group 78." He would later give the same presentation at a second meeting at Eurojust, the European Union agency that coordinates criminal justice cooperation. After a months-long investigation drawing upon documents, multiple sources in European law enforcement and judicial services, Le Monde and Die Zeit are now able to reveal the existence of the secret unit, its name and how it was presented to European investigators.

Stunned investigators

During the two meetings at Europol and Eurojust, the FBI agent detailed how Group 78 intended to carry out its missions. It had a two-pronged strategy: first, to conduct operations in Russia designed to make the lives of Black Basta members difficult and push them to leave Russian territory, making them vulnerable to the arrest warrants issued against them; second, to manipulate the Russian authorities into ending the protection the gang enjoyed. The message addressed to the European police officers and judges was clear: US intelligence services had just made a dramatic entrance onto the scene.

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