The Challenge
A national law enforcement agency in ASEAN had been investigating a cross-border narcotics trafficking network for 18 months. The network operated across four countries, using Telegram groups and dark web markets to coordinate shipments, manage logistics, and pay couriers. It was effective precisely because it was distributed — no single node knew the full picture.
Traditional surveillance had produced fragmented intelligence held in silos across three agencies. No unified network picture existed. Analysts were manually correlating tips, intercepted messages, and border-crossing records in spreadsheets — an approach that could identify individual actors but could not reveal the network's structure, hierarchy, or operational patterns.
After 18 months, the investigation lacked the network visibility needed to justify coordinated cross-border enforcement action. Senior coordinators remained unidentified. Without a complete network map, any partial enforcement action risked alerting the network and triggering a restructure that would restart the investigation from zero.
The agency needed to move from fragmented intelligence across three agencies to a single, prosecution-ready network picture — without alerting the network.
The Approach
BlackScore deployed a three-phase collection and fusion approach, progressing from open-source collection through covert channel access to full multi-agency intelligence fusion.
Dark web and messaging intelligence with BlackWebINT
BlackWebINT was deployed to monitor the specific dark web marketplace where the network was active and to map the Telegram ecosystem around known handles. Automated collection identified 14 previously unknown Telegram channels connected to the network — tracking logistics coordination, pricing discussions, and personnel references across three languages. Entity resolution linked 23 distinct personas across those channels, building a preliminary network map that no analyst had been able to construct manually in 18 months of investigation.
Covert channel access via Virtual HUMINT
Several critical coordination channels were access-controlled and could not be monitored through passive collection. BlackScore's Virtual HUMINT module was used to establish and manage operational personas for covert channel access, enabling collection from closed Telegram groups and a private dark web forum used by network leadership. All avatar activity was logged automatically for legal compliance. Intelligence from these channels filled the critical gap in the network hierarchy — identifying two previously unknown senior coordinators who had not appeared in any prior collection or HUMINT reporting.
Intelligence fusion across agencies in BlackFusion
BlackFusion ingested BlackWebINT collection alongside each agency's existing HUMINT reports, border crossing records, and vehicle tracking data. For the first time in the investigation, a unified entity graph was produced: suppliers, couriers, distributors, and financiers across all four countries plotted in a single investigation workspace. Timeline analysis of the collected communications revealed a predictable shipment pattern — providing the operational basis for coordinated interdiction planning that the investigation had been unable to develop from fragmented siloed intelligence.
The Outcome
The intelligence package produced by BlackFusion was the basis for a coordinated multi-country enforcement operation executed simultaneously across three jurisdictions. Results achieved from the investigation:
23 network nodes identified and mapped across 4 countries — suppliers, logistics coordinators, distributors, and financiers — providing a complete structural picture of the organisation for the first time
2 senior network coordinators identified for the first time through covert channel intelligence — both unknown to any of the three contributing agencies prior to BlackScore deployment
Predictable shipment schedule identified through timeline analysis of collected communications, enabling targeted interdiction rather than reactive response
6 simultaneous arrests executed across 3 countries from a coordinated intelligence package — no prior warning given to the network
3 shipments intercepted in transit based on the identified schedule, providing physical evidence to support prosecutions in multiple jurisdictions
Investigation timeline compressed by 14 weeks compared to the agency's prior cross-border operations of equivalent scope
All collection activity fully logged and audit-compliant — Virtual HUMINT activity records provided chain-of-custody documentation for use in prosecution proceedings
The investigation moved from 18 months of fragmented siloed intelligence to a prosecution-ready network map in a fraction of the time previously required — not because the network made mistakes, but because the intelligence picture finally matched the network's actual structure.