Fifty children have been rescued and nine people arrested after an Interpol investigation into an international paedophile ring.
The arrests were made in Thailand, Australia and the US and more are expected, Interpol said.
The investigation began in 2017 and focused on a hidden “dark web” site with 63,000 users worldwide.
Police believe 100 more children have suffered abuse and are working to identify them.
Operation Blackwrist was launched by Interpol after it detected images showing 11 boys aged under 13 being abused on a site where people can use encrypted software to maintain secrecy.
SCOTUS takes up Trump’s bid to fire FTC commissioner at will — a showdown that could topple 90-year precedent
US deports more Iranians, Islamic republic says
DC police chief resigns amid Trump pressure and crime data manipulation probe
Crime rings, hackers join forces to hijack trucks nationwide, fueling major holiday shipping security fears
White House Joins Musk in Striking Back at European Union Regulation: ‘An Attack on All American Tech Platforms’
Pete Hegseth Announce Festive New Christmas Celebration for the Pentagon
Report: 48 More Christians Slaughtered in Nigeria, Hundreds of Homes Destroyed
Trump-linked companies and family crypto ventures take a hit in second term
FBI’s renewed push in DC pipe bomb case shows how fresh eyes can change a stalled investigation
Marine who was killed in vehicle training accident at California base identified
Police say criminal illegal alien injured 4 officers in Nebraska gas station shootout
NYC mayor-elect tells residents how to resist ICE agents knocking at their door in new video
Oklahoma trooper helps deliver newborn on highway shoulder: ‘The baby is coming!’
Congress unveils $900B defense bill targeting China with tech bans, investment crackdown, US troop pay raise
Trump adds his birthday as free national park day while axing MLK Day and Juneteenth
The dark net is an internet area beyond the reach of mainstream search engines.
The US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) department traced the IP address of the website, which was hosting photos and videos of abuse.
Police say the abusers uploaded new images on a weekly basis and often masked the children’s faces to make it harder for investigators to identify them.
The first arrests came last year, when the site’s main administrator, Montri Salangam, was detained in Thailand, and another administrator, Ruecha Tokputza, was caught in Australia.
SCOTUS takes up Trump’s bid to fire FTC commissioner at will — a showdown that could topple 90-year precedent
US deports more Iranians, Islamic republic says
DC police chief resigns amid Trump pressure and crime data manipulation probe
Crime rings, hackers join forces to hijack trucks nationwide, fueling major holiday shipping security fears
White House Joins Musk in Striking Back at European Union Regulation: ‘An Attack on All American Tech Platforms’
Pete Hegseth Announce Festive New Christmas Celebration for the Pentagon
Report: 48 More Christians Slaughtered in Nigeria, Hundreds of Homes Destroyed
Trump-linked companies and family crypto ventures take a hit in second term
FBI’s renewed push in DC pipe bomb case shows how fresh eyes can change a stalled investigation
Marine who was killed in vehicle training accident at California base identified
Police say criminal illegal alien injured 4 officers in Nebraska gas station shootout
NYC mayor-elect tells residents how to resist ICE agents knocking at their door in new video
Oklahoma trooper helps deliver newborn on highway shoulder: ‘The baby is coming!’
Congress unveils $900B defense bill targeting China with tech bans, investment crackdown, US troop pay raise
Trump adds his birthday as free national park day while axing MLK Day and Juneteenth
Salangam, who abused one of his nephews, was sentenced to 146 years in prison in Thailand, while an accomplice, a pre-school teacher, got 36 years.
Tokputza was sentenced to 40 years on Friday after pleading guilty to 51 charges against 11 babies and boys, the heaviest sentence ever handed down in Australia for child sex offences.
Police found thousands of images taken in both Thailand and Australia on his devices. In some of them Tokputza was the main abuser. The youngest victim to be identified was 15 months old.
“You are a child’s worst nightmare, you are every parent’s horror, you are a menace to the community,” Judge Liesl Chapman said in Adelaide.
The identities of the others arrested are yet to be released, but some are residing in the US and held public positions of trust, said Eric McLoughlin, the HSI’s regional attache in Bangkok.
Story cited here.
