Law enforcement authorities in 17 countries in Latin America and Europe arrested approximately 95 suspects during an international operation coordinated by INTERPOL and targeting the distribution of child sexual abuse material through online messaging groups.
The operation was named the “International Effort Confluencia” and was carried out through four operations between March and September 2026. The results included the execution of 127 search warrants, as well as the rescue of a five-year-old child after it was found that one parent was producing abuse material and selling it online.
Details of the Networks Uncovered by the Investigations
Authorities in Ecuador found a person linked to a material-sharing group and seized approximately 15 gigabytes of abuse images and more than 4,000 files. In Panama, the administrator of a group that distributed child abuse material was arrested; the group had more than 700 users.
In Argentina, a suspect faces charges of communicating with more than 260 girls around the world and threatening those who refused his requests for more explicit content, in a case involving allegations of the sexual extortion of minors.
Why Does This News Matter?
The operation shows that messaging groups are not merely channels for exchanging files; they can also be used to groom children, coordinate abuse, connect criminals, receive payments, and redistribute material in ways that perpetuate harm to victims. The confiscated evidence gives investigators an opportunity to identify more suspects and children at risk, according to INTERPOL.
Stephen Fry, INTERPOL’s executive director for investigative support, said that cross-border cooperation between law enforcement agencies and the private sector had become more urgent, noting that every redistribution of a file means re-harming the child.
Context of Previous Operations
The campaign follows other international operations targeting the digital infrastructure used to distribute this content. In February of last year, 25 suspects linked to a large network distributing AI-generated abuse material were arrested. In April 2025, German investigators dismantled the Kidflix dark-web platform and announced the arrest of an additional 79 people after identifying 1,393 suspects.
European and Latin American authorities also arrested 20 suspects in June 2025 in connection with a separate operation against the production and distribution of abuse material through messaging groups. In March, the Europol-supported “Alice” operation shut down more than 373,000 dark-web sites offering fake abuse-material packages, following an investigation that began in mid-2021.
These developments indicate that combating this type of crime depends on combining digital investigations, analysis of confiscated evidence, and judicial coordination between countries, in addition to cooperation from private platforms. However, the source does not identify the names of the messaging platforms used or the mechanisms for technical cooperation with them. The number of arrests also does not necessarily reflect the final size of the networks, as the confiscated files may lead to the identification of new victims and suspects.