Police in the Netherlands and Belgium said it took action against the encrypted messaging app Sky ECC widely used by criminals across the globe.

The Dutch police said they have been monitoring “live” traffic on the encrypted messaging service over the past three weeks, which eventually led to arrests of 30 suspects in the Netherlands part of “Operation Argus.” The authorities said that some 48 criminals were arrested by about 1,500 police officers in coordinated raids in Belgium.

According to the officials, the investigators have been able to decrypt and read the SkyECC traffic in real time since mid-February. During that time they have had access to hundreds of millions of messages the service's users sent, uncovering information about "dozens" of attempts to plan violent crimes in the Netherlands, such as kidnappings, shootings, and assassinations. The police did not say how they managed to crack the encryption.

The Sky ECC app became popular last year after the police took similar actions against EncroChat, an encrypted messaging service favored by criminal gangs. The Dutch police said that Sky ECC is now the largest encrypted messaging platform amassing more than 70,000 users, with 11,000 of them in the Netherlands.

In a statement released Tuesday, the company behind Sky ECC denied allegations that authorities have cracked its software.

“Sky ECC received notification of several articles published in Belgium and the Netherlands alleging that Belgian and/or Dutch authorities have cracked or hacked SKY ECC encrypted communication software. SKY ECC maintains, after thorough investigation, that all such allegations are false,” the company said. “SKY ECC authorized distributors in Belgium and the Netherlands brought to our attention that a fake phishing application falsely branded as SKY ECC was illegally created, modified and side-loaded onto unsecure devices, and security features of authorized SKY ECC phones were eliminated in these bogus devices which were then sold through unauthorized channels.”

“SKY ECC has not been contacted by any investigative authority. SKY ECC did not authorize or cooperate with the investigative authorities or those involved with the distribution of the fake phishing application. These actions are malicious and SKY ECC is actively investigating and pursuing legal action against the offending individuals for impersonation, false lights, trademark infringement, injurious falsehood, defamation, and fraud,” it added.