A paedophile ring, which sold thousands of videos and photographs of children being sexually abused in Malta, among other countries, is being investigated jointly by the Maltese and Italian police.

The police are also seeking to identify several of the victim minors, some of whom may be immigrants living in Malta but not necessarily African.

Syracuse cybercrimes unit investigator Domenico Di Somma confirmed that some of the photos were taken in Malta. “I visit Malta often and I know the territory well,” he said, adding, however, that the particular locations could not yet be identified.

He pointed out that many of the photos had dates on them providing further clues for investigation.

Two Italian men have so far been arrested for allegedly taking the photos while on holiday in Malta, Romania and Tunisia. The suspects have been named as a 51-year-old teacher Carlo Ravagnan, from Venice, and 65-year-old Florence accountant Mauro Lazzerini.

According to Italian media reports, the children were given mobile phones, phone cards, shoes and other items in return for sexual favours.

The lewd material was sold to people in Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Austria, France, the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The investigation began through Telefono Arcobaleno, an international observatory of online child abuse and sexual exploitation. A spokesman for Arcobaleno in Malta could not confirm whether the first complaints originated from people living in the country but said the organisation was in touch with both the Maltese and Italian police.

The Italian investigation was carried out by the police in Florence and the cybercrimes unit of Syracuse.

When contacted, NGOs working with African immigrants said they were looking into the case but they had never received reports involving migrant children and paedophile pornography.