In a crackdown spearheaded by France, 31 men implicated in a child pornography network that was primarily operated via the encrypted messaging service Signal have been arrested across Europe.
Between 13 and 17 November, police made 10 arrests in France, 10 in Spain, five in Hungary, four in Belgium and two in Bulgaria, said Colonel Pascal Péresse, head of the operations division at France's Centre for the Fight Against Internet Crimes.
The operation was prompted by a tip-off from the US Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which flagged a 30-year-old man residing in southwest France.
An investigation by cyber police from the Bordeaux Research Section made it possible to identify seven discussion groups, eight administrators and three secure storage spaces.
Around 700 individuals of 73 different nationalities were identified by more than 70 investigators, including 25 specialising in new technologies, Péresse said.
More arrests to come
Undercover French gendarmes conducted an investigation and uncovered over 200,000 illicit files within the network. Forty child crime groups were investigated and 49 digital materials were seized.
New arrests are also planned soon in Finland, Romania and Ukraine, Péresse said.
Several suspects have been placed in pre-trial detention. Some are also being prosecuted for rape of a minor under 15 and corruption of minors.
A former teacher from Mayotte, a Hungarian pediatrician, a radio host and tourists who have traveled to Thailand are among those arrested.
(with AFP)
