An international operation targeting the production and distribution of child sexual exploitation and abuse material has led to the arrest of 95 suspects.
The INTERPOL-coordinated initiative involved 17 countries from Latin America and Europe participating in four parallel law enforcement operations between March and September 2026.
In a statement released on Thursday, INTERPOL said each operation targeted different aspects of the dissemination and commercialization of child sexual abuse content through messaging applications and cryptocurrencies.
According to INTERPOL, these platforms are increasingly used to groom children, coordinate abuse, connect offenders and receive payment for illegal content, while also enabling the recirculation of abuse material, resulting in continued revictimization.
The operations led to the execution of 127 search warrants and the rescue of one child, while the suspects arrested came from 17 countries, with approximately 89 per cent male and 11 per cent female.
Material seized during the investigations is expected to lead to further identification of offenders and children at risk, as well as additional safeguarding actions.
Speaking on the operation, INTERPOL Executive Director, Investigation Support, Stephen Fry, said, “Intelligence gathered during these operations exposes, once again, the growing role of digital platforms in the monetization of child sexual abuse. Effective cross-border cooperation between law enforcement and the private sector has never been more urgent.
“Behind every file is a child who was abused, and who is revictimized every time that image recirculates. Wherever offenders move, we have to move faster.”
The statement revealed that, as part of the operations, Colombian police safeguarded a five-year-old victim and arrested the victim’s parent, who had been producing and selling abuse material online.
INTERPOL said its Child Sexual Exploitation database was key to the breakthrough, linking a series of files depicting the same child, some dating back to when the victim was one year old.
It added that authorities in Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru and Spain detected the participation of adolescents in several messaging groups, both requesting and distributing child abuse material.
In Ecuador, an individual identified as being part of a group sharing abuse content was found with more than 4,000 files and approximately 15GB of child abuse images after analysis of devices.
Authorities in Panama reported the arrest of the administrator of a group disseminating abusive material depicting children, which had more than 700 users.
In Argentina, police arrested a suspect who was allegedly in contact with more than 260 girls from different countries.
The suspect, accused of sextortion of minors, allegedly requested increasingly explicit videos and images from victims, threatening them when they refused.
The initiative, known as International Effort Confluencia, was funded by the European Union programme EL PACCTO 2.0 and the Human Dignity Foundation through INTERPOL’s Preventing the Cycle of Harm Programme.
It was also supported by AC3 AMERIPOL and Red Elipsia, an international network of specialized investigators in technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and abuse of children.
Participating countries were Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain and Uruguay.
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