50 Children Have Been Rescued After Officials Busted a Multinational Paedophile Ring

Nine people were arrested in Thailand, Australia and the U.S. and 50 children were rescued following an Interpol investigation into an international paedophile ring.

The investigation, which began two years ago and is called Operation Blackwrist, targeted a “dark web” site that had more than 60,000 global users, according to the BBC.

Operation Blackwrist began after Interpol spotted images showing 11 boys under the age of 13 on a website where users utilized encrypted software to hide their identities, according to the BBC.

According to an Interpol statement, weekly images of children being abused were being uploaded to the site, but it was difficult to track down the perpetrators as the children’s faces were generally hidden.

Last year, the site’s main administrator, Montri Salangam, was detained in Thailand and has been sentenced to 146 years in prison, according to the BBC. Another administrator, Ruecha Tokputza, was also arrested last year in Australia, where he was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

The names of those arrested have not yet been released.

Interpol said they believe 100 more children may have suffered abuse, and they are working to identify them.