Arrests expected here in EU child porn probe

Several people are expected to be prosecuted in Ireland as part of an EU investigation into a child pornography network.

Gardaí are still investigating five people whose homes were raided last November as part of Operation Koala, an investigation which straddled 19 countries.

The operation, which targeted Internet child sex abuse, was highlighted yesterday in Europol’s Annual Report 2007, as an example of the benefits of co-operation between EU countries.

The EU police body disseminated information about the child sex ring to member states last November, which resulted in the searches of five homes here. The raids were conducted by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation in houses in Mayo, Westmeath, Wicklow, Clare and Galway. During the searches, detectives from the bureau’s sexual assault and domestic violence units took computers, CDs and DVDs. The matter is being investigated. A file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions and gardaí are confident charges will follow.

The EU-wide investigation centred on an Italian national who produced more than 150 self-made, sexually explicit videos of underage girls. As a result of the investigation, 23 children, between the ages of nine and 16, have so far been identified.

The Europol annual report said the police body had co-operated with gardaí in a number of controlled deliveries of drugs and contraband. It also said high-profile European criminals, and their wealth, were located in Ireland. “Criminal assets of overseas crime lords were identified in Ireland and foreign crime suspects domiciled in the country were located.”

It said gardaí had increased their use of Europol as a channel for police co-operation.

Two gardaí are located in Europol HQ at the Hague, in the Netherlands, as liaison officers. A Customs officer is due to join soon.

The biggest crimes facing the EU are:

* Drugs trafficking, especially in synthetic drugs.

* Smuggling and trafficking in human beings, especially linked to illegal immigration.

* Fraud, especially in the area of highly taxed goods and Value Added Tax carousels.

* Euro counterfeiting.

* Commodity counterfeiting and intellectual property theft.

* Money laundering.

By Cormac O'Keeffe, Irish Examiner

http://www.irishexaminer.ie/irishexaminer/pages/home.asp

© Examiner Publications (Cork) Limited

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