Simon Wade
NATIONAL POLICE have detained 15 people across Spain who owned and distributed child pornography through social media.
One of the gang is said to have paid €300 for a batch of violently sexual images involving young children and babies.
Investigations began when the National Police received information from the US Embassy in Madrid, about missing children possibly being abused.
Electronic traces were placed on the exchanges of images via the internet here in Spain, using information from Internet Service Providers, achieving a close international collaboration in the fight against child sexual exploitation across the globe.
Despite the criminals trying to evade capture with new and multiple online accounts in one particular social media group, they were caught and arrested
Of the 15 arrested, four were from Barcelona, three from Madrid, two from Malaga, and others from Albacete, Badajoz, Las Palmas, Murcia, Orense and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Another six were also charged.
During the arrests, a number of devices were found including 19 mobile phones, 14 laptops, six hard drives, four memory sticks, three tablets and a memory card – all containing illegal pornographic files.
The National Police continues to warn users of any social network that sharing or saving such images of minors is a crime.
This type of content must be reported to the social network itself or to the National Police.
