Police in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark on Tuesday raided the homes of 81 people suspected of downloading and spreading child pornography on the internet.
In the joint operation, police seized computers and other equipment believed to contain photos and films of sexual assaults against children. In Finland, police targeted 23 homes in 14 municipalities.
“The raids were made across Finland. Police detained suspects and seized computers in small towns as well as in the capital city region,” says Mika Ihaksinen of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation.
Ihaksinen says the suspects were all members of the same file-sharing site. That said, police say there is no evidence to indicate that the suspects were involved in an organised child porn ring. Police, however, say the suspects were well aware of the nature of the material they were accessing, as downloading times sometimes spanned several days.
Police agencies in the four countries have been gathering evidence since May against people suspected of downloading and distributing illegal child pornography through file-sharing sites. Danish authorities have led the investigation.
Authorities are now tracing the source of the pornographic material, which they say may be linked to human trafficking.
The exact number of arrests in the crackdown dubbed "Operation Viking" is not known.
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