Europol Bust 112 in Child Porn Ring

Police have cracked a massive child porn ring, arresting 112 people across 22 countries, after uncovering a series of Internet chat channels devoted to the illicit trade, Europol announced today. Police say they have 269 suspects in total, and expect to make more arrests. They're focusing first on busting the people sharing "the most extreme forms of video material," including images of toddlers and babies being raped, the AP reports.

Europol director Rob Wainwright called the operation a success, but said that technology was making policing porn peddlers more difficult. "The Internet is helping offenders to develop better techniques for sharing images on a global basis and for protecting their identity," he said. Police also said it would take time to sift through the mountains of data seized in the operation—one suspect alone had 120 terabytes of HD video. (More child sexual abuse material stories.)