Overview of the international operation
The national police conducted a broad operation across multiple provinces, resulting in the arrest of 18 individuals on suspicions of possessing and distributing material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. The operation targeted both computer and mobile devices, with offenders using private networks to obscure their activity and complicate detection.
Arrests were carried out in the provinces of A Coruña, Alicante, Barcelona, Burgos, Cadiz, Castellón, Ciudad Real, Girona, Guipúzcoa, Lanzarote, Madrid, Tarragona and Tenerife. The suspects were linked to the alleged online possession and distribution of child sexual exploitation material, according to reports from the national police authorities.
The operation was conducted in collaboration with authorities in the United States, and authorities reported the seizure of substantial digital and storage hardware, including 21 mobile phones, two tablets, six computers, eight hard drives, six memory cards, 17 USB sticks and a camera.
Official statement from the U.S. mission
The effort began in January 2020 as part of international cooperation to combat the sexual exploitation of minors online. In this case, the U.S. mission to Spain alerted the police to online links detected in Spain that potentially hosted child pornography material.
Key information originated from complaints filed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). It is reported that at least 20 individuals in the country used virtual accounts to store and share files containing child sexual abuse content with others in related networks.
As is common in these crimes, the perpetrators employed private connections such as VPNs to anonymize the real IP addresses of their devices, effectively masking their locations.
The detainees used both laptops and desktop computers as well as mobile devices, and investigators noted frequent synchronization between devices, which directed search efforts across multiple computing endpoints.
The national police underscored the importance for citizens to refrain from sharing or concealing images and videos depicting minors, as doing so constitutes a crime. Individuals who encounter such material are urged to report it through official channels and to avoid engaging with the content. (Citation: National Police)