Canadian police said that 348 people have been arrested and 386 children rescued as part of a three-year child pornography investigation, which was codenamed "Project Spade," reported Russia Today on Thursday.
Azov Films, which reportedly sold DVDs and streamed videos of naked children, became the focal point of the investigation, as the company reportedly exported sexually explicit films to 94 countries. 42-year-old Canadian Brian Way, the head of the company, has been in custody since his arrest in May 2011, following an undercover operation, and has been charged with 11 different offenses including possession of, and import and export, of child pornography, news reports said
"It is alleged that officers located hundreds of thousands of images and videos detailing horrific sexual acts against very young children - some of the worst they have ever viewed," police told reporters.
Authorities used the film company's database to "identify customers ordering child pornography. Many of the addresses were in the U.S. Other countries included Australia, Spain, Mexico, South Africa, Norway, Greece and Ireland," news reports said.
Local authorities arrested 108 people in Canada while 76 were detained in the U.S. and 164 were apprehended in other countries as part of the investigation.
Among those arrested included fiends who had interactions with children on a daily basis. Some were doctors, school teachers, foster carers, and priests, according to Toronto Police inspector Joanna Beavan-Desjardins.
Police found "over 350,000 images 9,000 videos depicting child abuse" at a home of one the individuals arrested, news reports said. That individual, a retired school teacher, also knew some of his victims.
