A Europe-wide investigation has led to the arrest of 112 people in connection with a child pornography network that included Malta.

A list issued by Europol shows Malta among 22 countries where arrests were made. So far, Operation Icarus had helped to identify 269 suspects and arrest 112 others, Europol said.

The Malta police could not confirm how many arrests were made in Malta in connection with the operation but sources confirmed that in the past year people were held in connection with storage, viewing and sharing of child porn. More arrests are expected.

The operation targeted individuals sharing the most extreme forms of video material, which included babies and toddlers being sexually abused and raped. A lot of the material seized during house searches is awaiting forensic examination to support follow-up investigations and possible prosecution of offenders. However, the operation has already uncovered previously unknown networks of child sex offenders operating on different internet channels.

The complexity of the operation has also been compounded by its scale. For instance, Danish suspects had an astounding 29 terabytes of data confiscated from them, an amount of data equivalent to more than 43,000 CDs.

“This is an incredible amount of data for our investigators to handle. To put it into perspective, that could hold about 9,000 hours of high-quality video,” said Jens Henrik Hoejbjerg, the Danish National Commissioner of Police.

“This is the latest major success in over 10 years of Europol supporting law enforcement agencies in Europe in their fight against child sex abuse online,” said Rob Wainwright, director of Europol.

“This operation shows how the internet is helping offenders to develop better techniques for sharing images on a global basis and for protecting their identity.

“The problems involved are becoming harder to the police and call for sustained efforts by policymakers and law enforcement agencies to ensure that society’s response remains strong and agile in this area.”

Investigations are ongoing and more arrests are expected. Special focus will be on identifying the producers of the material, the suspects and their victims.

Among those arrested for downloading illegal material was one who is suspected of grooming a young child and was arrested before being able to meet the child face to face.

Cecilia Malmström, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, welcomed the joint action saying: “These children are victims of multiple crimes. First, when the actual abuse takes place, then, when it is filmed and, thereafter, every time the images are posted, circulated or viewed.”

She said the joint action carried out under Europol coordination showed Europe’s commitment to backing the fight against this appalling crime.