28 men arrested across seven countries – international child pornography operation
Norwegian police coordinated operation against darknet forum users, with suspects also arrested in Canada.
28 men arrested across seven countries – international child pornography operation
Norwegian police announced on Wednesday that 28 men in seven different countries have been arrested in a comprehensive operation targeting purchasers of material depicting the sexual abuse of children. Canada was among the countries where suspects were apprehended.
The Norwegian national criminal investigation service (Kripos) stated that the arrested men had used the cryptocurrency Monero to pay for access to multiple forums on the dark web.
"We have worked closely with six countries to coordinate the arrests of the identified users who paid with cryptocurrency to gain access to the forums," said prosecutor Terje Nedrebo Michelsen in a press statement.
The operation was carried out in early June. The arrested men are between 22 and 54 years old and were detained in Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, Czechia, Poland and Germany, according to Kripos.
Further arrests are expected, potentially in additional countries, the agency stated, noting that there are "many suspects".
Kripos stated that in 2025 they have developed a method to track the use of the cryptocurrency Monero in specific cases. This technological breakthrough enabled the identification of the forum users.
In a separate statement, Europol said that one of the arrested men "made extensive use of artificial intelligence to generate illegal material", whilst "some of the victims were part of another suspect's immediate family".
Three children were "secured" as a result of the operation, they added.
The operation also resulted in "the seizure of more than 460 items, including electronic devices, crypto wallets, narcotics and large quantities of doping agents," according to Europol.
Source: CTV News
Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)