Spanish police operation targeting child abuse leads to 18 arrests

Eighteen people were arrested in an operation targeting child abusers across 13 provinces of Spain, including Madrid and Barcelona, the national police announced on Tuesday.

Twenty-one mobile phones, two tablets, six computers, eight hard drives as well as memory cards, USB sticks and a camera were confiscated.

The arrested, who knew how to disguise their internet protocol addresses, are charged with possession and distribution of child pornography, among other things.

The investigation was initiated in January 2020 thanks to tips from the US embassy in Madrid.

The arrests were made in the provinces of A Coruña, Alicante, Barcelona, Burgos, Cádiz, Castellón, Ciudad Real, Girona, Guipúzkoa, Lanzarote, Madrid, Tarragona and Tenerife.