Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested at Paris airport: report

Pavel Durov, the co-founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested at an airport in Paris Saturday after getting off his private jet, according to French media reports.

The billionaire Russian exile was arrested at around 8 p.m. at Le Bourget airport by French cops after flying in from Azerbaijan, French outlet TF1 Info reported.

French authorities had issued a search warrant as part of a preliminary investigation into Durov — a staunch free speech advocate — and his encrypted messaging app, which has some 900 million users worldwide.

Law enforcement believes that Telegram’s lack of moderation and the tools it offers, such as cryptocurrencies, make it complicit in global drug trafficking, pedophilia and fraud. But the search warrant was only valid if Durov stepped foot on French soil.