From reading the article it seems like their co-operation has largely been snitching on their friends in the DDOS community and a crypto-currency analysis app.

Maybe it's more cultural than technical.

They are probably just snitching on other people. And this press release was part of a deal they managed to negotiate to make them look good.

That is, sadly, how collaboration with law enforcement usually goes.

Undoubtedly, but it's also probably a combination. They seem talented and probably could have provided significant technical expertise.

The Bitcoin network analyzer sounds a bit odd since you'd think the FBI already has a team dedicated to cryptocurrency investigations, but who knows. Maybe what they developed was really just that good, perhaps from their past experience tracking competitors and adversaries through the blockchain.

I believe employees are drug tested, which discounts a large portion of the community.

That’s probably a factor, but the culture of entrenched government bureaucracy and pay far below what can be gained in the private sector can’t be helping either. Plus, a lot of hackers are fairly ideologically opposed to “big government” in a kind of kneejerk fashion.