01/04/2020 (Agence Europe) – Europol announced, on Tuesday 31 March, the dismantling of a global child abuse ring that had been operating in more than 40 countries. Operation GARGAMEL was launched by Belgian investigators, in cooperation with police worldwide and with the support of Europol, after 9 million pictures and videos of sexual abuse of thousands of children around the world were discovered during a house search in Belgium. The images seized during this investigation were used by the Victim Identification Task Forces hosted by Europol and identified 70 children and 30 suspects. The Belgian Federal Judicial Police managed to identify 60 suspects, including 24 in Belgium, and 40 victims. In particular, four suspects have just been convicted by a Belgian court. Further arrests are expected, Europol says. (MF)