13 May Largest operation in Europe hitting paedophile crime. The Polish Police have involved 11 countries in the operation!
Police officers have detained individuals who produced photographs and films depicting the sexual exploitation of minors, ran paedophile forums and shared the collected material. While Poland holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Central Cybercrime Bureau in cooperation with the National Police Headquarters organised the international operation ‘FEVER’. A total of 166 persons were detained, including 98 in Poland.
The Polish Police invited Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Bulgaria to cooperate in the operation, supported by Europol and J-CAT. The United Kingdom (NCA) and the United States (FBI), as well as the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), participated at the international level. The National Prosecuting Authority’s Cybercrime and Information Technology Department and prosecutors from across the country also participated in the operation.
FEVER was the largest operation to date that the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime has organised in cooperation with the National Police Headquarters.
The Polish Police have once again hit hard at perpetrators of paedophile crimes. Those detained include people who: produced photographs and films depicting the sexual exploitation of minors; ran internet forums where they exchanged accumulated material; and drove minors to suicidal thoughts. The perpetrators also included relatives of the victims and persons of public trust.
In order to hit Internet crime even more effectively, the Central Cybercrime Bureau operations were conducted jointly with the Department for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings of the Criminal Bureau of the National Police Headquarters and with police officers of the National Police Headquarters and voivodship headquarters from Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków, Lublin, Olsztyn, Poznań, Radom, Rzeszów, Wrocław and Gorzów Wielkopolski.
Almost 600 police officers took part in the operation across the country. During searches, they uncovered numerous paedophile materials. These included films and photographs collected on various types of devices and data carriers. Unfortunately, there were also materials of the sexual exploitation of children of infant age. In the course of 159 searches, officers secured, among other things, computers, hard disks, telephones and SIM cards – a total of more than 1,700 devices and data carriers. They also secured more than 520,000 paedophile video files and images. Police officers also uncovered other prohibited items such as drugs and 3 firearms for which the owner did not have a permit. A total of 98 people aged between 22 and 78 were detained.
The suspects heard criminal charges of possession, distribution and production of paedophilic content. In 48 cases, the courts decided to apply preventive measures in the form of pre-trial detention. The penalty for public presentation of pornographic content is up to 15 years’ imprisonment.
One of the elements of FEVER was the operation ‘Kidflix’, which the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime carried out together with the German police. The service shut down one of the largest paedophile streaming platforms in the world. Between April 2022 and March this year, around 1.8 million users worldwide logged on to the platform. On 11 March this year, the server, which hosted around 72,000 videos at the time, was seized by German and Dutch authorities. CBZC police officers reached 12 people who were actively using the service. Some of these people heard charges of possession and distribution of paedophilic content.
A communiqué on the case was published on Europol’s website.
The activities of the CBZC also involved cooperation with the FBI office. The services jointly targeted members of one of the largest international forums on the hidden resources of the Internet, who were exchanging material depicting the sexual exploitation of minors. Several people heard charges of possessing and sharing illegal files.
The international operation FEVER has led to the identification and arrest of a total of 166 suspects. Of these, 111 people have so far been arrested for sharing and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
The aim of the police officers carrying out the operations, was first and foremost to put an end to child abuse, so apprehending the perpetrators of these heinous crimes and bringing them to justice was crucial in this regard.
Previous operations carried out in the country: ‘ANASTASIA’, “BARBOSSA”, “CARLOS”, ’DAKOTA’ and ‘ENOLA GAY’ were carried out by the CBZC between 2022 and 2024. Most of the searches and executions carried out were based on their own evidence and were preceded by months of preparation. During the five operations carried out so far, more than 280 people between the ages of 16 and 78 have been charged. More than 2 million paedophile files have been seized.
The common objective of the services involved in INTERNATIONAL OPERATION FEVER was to combat paedophile Internet crime.
Activities related to the inspection of secured equipment and material are in progress, therefore the data presented may increase.
Author(s): Katarzyna Stankowska, Masovian Police