Britons arrested in paedophile raids
Two British men have been arrested as part of an international crackdown on an internet paedophile network.
Premises in five countries, including the UK, were searched and 21 people arrested, with some being interviewed in connection with making and distributing indecent images of children, the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) said.
The men arrested in Britain, a 36-year-old retail manager from Worcestershire and a 51-year-old ex-engineer in the Merchant Navy, from Northamptonshire, are being questioned at an undisclosed location. NHTCU officers worked along side the FBI, Europol, US Customs and other law enforcement agencies to co-ordinate the arrests as part of Operation Twins, an international operation targeting the infamous paedophile network The Brotherhood.
The latest raids follow the arrest of a man in Colorado earlier this year, who had been grooming a child in an internet chat room, and meeting her for sexual purposes. He was identified as Wizard, a senior member of The Brotherhood, and NHTCU officers travelled to the US in January to further their inquiries.
After forensic tests on the suspect's computer, a photograph was found showing seven men at a remote US farm for their annual meeting, code-named The Teddy Bear's Picnic. More examinations identified those who attended or were invited to the meeting as coming from Canada, Germany, Norway, the UK and US, as well as other countries.
They were all said to be bulletin board owners and systems administrators, who monitor bulletin boards and provide technical and security advice to members to help them avoid police.
Using the information from the Teddy Bear's Picnic and other evidence, officers pinpointed the suspects who were arrested in the raids. As well as the two men arrested in the UK, 10 people were held in the US, seven in Germany, one in Canada and one in Norway.
Source: portal.telegraph.co.uk
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