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Exchange via the Internet: Officials in Switzerland have been investigating children's pornography for years
Photograph:
Silas Stein/ dpa
After years of secret investigations on the Internet, the Swiss police have unmasked thousands of pedophiles worldwide. Thanks to Operation Ninja Turtle, more than 2200 suspects were arrested in Switzerland, Croatia, Brazil, France, Peru, Romania and Spain, among others, police said. Some of the detainees had used the child pornographic material, others had abused children themselves.
According to the information, the police investigations date back to 2012. At that time, Swiss officials received indications that a person from the canton of Aargau was circulating illegal pornographic material via the Gigatribe platform under the pseudonym "Ninja Turtle". On the platform, data can be exchanged anonymously.
The investigation led to a 62-year-old German who was arrested in the same year and convicted in 2015. As a result, the Swiss police had the idea of using his profile as a "Ninja Turtle" to infiltrate the platform and thus expose other pedophiles.
atb/AFP