Law enforcement authorities from 17 countries in Latin America and Europe have arrested 95 suspects in an INTERPOL-coordinated operation targeting the distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) through online messaging groups.
The joint action, dubbed International Effort Confluencia, included four law enforcement operations between March 2026 and September 2026.
"Effective cross-border cooperation between law enforcement and the private sector has never been more urgent," said Stephen Fry, Executive Director of INTERPOL Investigation Support. "Behind every file is a child who was abused, and who is revictimized every time that image recirculates. Wherever offenders move, we have to move faster."
The investigators executed 127 search warrants to arrest nearly 95 suspects and rescued a five-year-old victim whose parent had been producing and selling abuse material online.
Ecuadorian authorities found one individual part of a group sharing CSAM who had approximately 15GB of abuse images and more than 4,000 files, while investigators in Panama arrested the administrator of a group disseminating abusive material depicting children with more than 700 users.
In Argentina, another suspect who was allegedly in contact with over 260 girls worldwide allegedly threatened victims who tried to refuse his requests for increasingly explicit content and is now accused of sextortion of minors.