Authorities from 19 countries, with support from Europol, have dismantled a criminal network responsible for distributing AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The large-scale operation, Operation Cumberland, has led to 25 arrests worldwide, with further detentions expected in the coming weeks.
Led by Danish law enforcement, the crackdown involved agencies from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT) coordinated intelligence and international collaboration.
Most of the arrests were executed on February 26, 2025. So far, investigators have identified 273 suspects, conducted 33 house searches, and seized 173 devices containing illegal content.
At the centre of the operation is a Danish national who was arrested in November 2024. Authorities report that he managed an online platform where users could access AI-generated CSAM after making a symbolic payment. This platform was used by offenders across multiple countries, leading to a transnational investigation.
This case marks one of the first major law enforcement actions against AI-generated child exploitation material, highlighting the growing misuse of AI in such cybercrime.
Last year, approximately 190 personal photos of Australian children were used to train AI tools without their consent. This news came just a month after 170 personal photos of Brazilian children were found to be used for the same purpose.
Internet Watch Foundation has already warned the world that AI-generated pictures of children, some as young as two years old, are proliferating on the internet. The foundation has classified some of these pictures as Category A, indicating they are among the most severe crimes.
“These artificially generated images are so easily created that they can be produced by individuals with criminal intent, even without substantial technical knowledge,” said Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director at Europol. “This contributes to the growing prevalence of child sexual abuse material, and as the volume increases, it becomes progressively more challenging for investigators to identify offenders or victims.”
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