SEVENTY-FOUR people are under arrest in Spain, and a further 61 under investigation, after a series of raids uncovered a child pornography network.
The interior ministry spokesman confirmed that Operation Roulette, involving 600 police officers, is still under way, and he did not discount further arrests.
He said Spanish police technological brigade officers were working through Interpol with police forces in several other countries and with particular co-operation from the Brazilian police.
The raids were carried out over the past two weeks on 130 houses and offices across the country.
Technical experts have intercepted and analysed more than 2,500 internet connections and identified 180 internet users who are alleged to have been downloading, sharing or possessing pornographic material featuring children and adolescents.
One of those under arrest is a 40-year-old musician believed to be responsible for filming, producing and circulating much of the pornographic material. After searching his apartment police confiscated six external hard discs, four memory sticks and a video camera containing two films – one of which showed the man, naked, with his 13-year-old niece and the other a nude adolescent boy, believed to be the son of his neighbours. Although they were apparently complete, neither of these two video films had been broadcast over the internet.
In total 323 hard discs, 20 CPUs, 31 laptop computers, seven VHS video cassettes, three digital cameras, a mobile phone and many other items of importance were seized in the raids and are being held for study.
Police commissioner Manuel Vazquez confirmed that not all the films had been produced in Spain. He said that several of them had already been widely circulated, particularly those containing “a young European girl” who was identified some time ago.
It was thought that most had already been deleted.
He said the detainees came from all walks of life and from virtually every Spanish province. They include teachers, engineers, IT technicians, bank workers, security officers, students and the unemployed.
He said that all those under arrest had downloaded at least 10 paedophile videos, thus discounting the possibility they could have been downloaded inadvertently.
“Some of the images on the films are extraordinarily unpleasant and strong, particularly those of very young children suffering sexual abuse.
“The youngest victim is a five-year-old girl and there are also many close-ups of children of six, seven or eight,” said one of the officers leading the operation.
The Spanish technological investigation brigade (BIT) is particularly active in the fight against child pornography and paedophilia over the web.
A year ago 121 people were arrested in a similar widespread crackdown with the co-operation of police forces across Europe.
The work of BIT has been widely praised. More than 1,500 arrests for spreading child pornography have been made over the past six years, and UN children’s organisation UNICEF presented it with a special award in 2008.