BRASILIA – Brazil police arrested 108 in major anti-paedophilia operation in 24 states and the capital, Brasilia last week.
Justice Minister Torquato Jardim said those detained were part of a ring that shared pornographic images of children through computers and mobile phones.
The operation comes at the end of a six-month investigation, which involved US and European immigration officials.
Investigators found more than 150,000 files containing disturbing images. They were accessed through the dark web, a part of the internet not reached by most search engines.
Among those arrested were retired policemen, civil servants and people in charge of football youth clubs.
The operation initially targeted suspects of sharing illegal paedophile material. But after seizing dozens of computers, mobile phones, CDs and hard drives, investigators found out that the criminal group was also producing pornographic material to distribute on the internet.
It is not clear if the paedophile ring operated independently in Brazil or if it was connected with other criminal networks abroad.
