Operation Auxin was an

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...

operation in September 2004, leading to the

arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be question ...

of almost 200 people on charges of

child pornography Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...

. These people were all accused of purchasing child pornography over the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

, using their credit cards, from

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian crime syndicates; the credit card payments had been processed by a company named Landslide.com in

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Among the accused were people holding positions of trust in the community, such as

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

s (including one officer assigned to investigate child pornography), members of the military,

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

s, and ministers of religion. Several of the suspects committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

. It was the follow-up to the U.S.

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

operation

Operation Avalanche Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but ...

. And has been associated with Operation FALCON.

US investigation

Between 1999 and 2001, after a tip, a US investigation was conducted into Landslide Productions Inc., a

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

-based online pornography portal operated by Thomas and Janice Reedy. The portal was found to have provided access to child pornography, and the Reedys were both convicted of trafficking child pornography in August 2001. Following the investigation and conviction, "Operation Avalanche" was launched in the US to trace and prosecute child pornography users identified in the Landslide database. In addition, the website was run for a short time as part of a sting operation by the FBI to capture new suspects. The FBI also passed identities from the Landslide database to the police organisations of other countries, including 7,272 names to the UK.

Legality

Legal challenges

The initial credit card evidence used in the investigation has since been widely debunked due to the fact that there was no established link between a credit card being used and actual pornography being downloaded. Additionally, multiple cases of

credit card fraud Credit card fraud is an inclusive term for fraud committed using a payment card, such as a credit card or debit card. The purpose may be to obtain goods or services or to make payment to another account, which is controlled by a criminal. The P ...

involving organised crime syndicates have also raised the possibility that credit card numbers retrieved from Landslide.com may have been used by a third party and not their owners at all. Similarly,

Operation Ore Operation Ore was a British police operation that commenced in 1999 following information received from US law enforcement, which was intended to prosecute thousands of users of a website reportedly featuring child pornography. It was the Unite ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

has come under intense fire, both from those wrongfully convicted and from civil rights groups.

Results

Nearly 200 people arrested in Australia

Country-specific results

*Australia 200 arrests (see Operation Auxin) *Canada (see Operation Snowball) *Ireland (see

Operation Amethyst Operation Amethyst was a Garda Síochána (police) operation targeting child pornography in the Republic of Ireland. Involving simultaneous searches on May 27, 2002, of over 100 individuals suspected of downloading child pornography, it was one o ...

) *Italy (see

Operation Pecunia Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

) *Switzerland (see

Operation Genesis The Genesis Operation was an operation carried out by the Swiss Federal Office of Police ( Fedpol), the judiciary of the canton of Zurich, and the Cantonal Police of the other cantons of Switzerland between September 2002 and May 2004 against ...

aka Action Genesis) *United Kingdom (see

) *United States (see

)

Participating countries

*Australia -

(AFP) *United Kingdom -

National Crime Agency The National Crime Agency (NCA) is a Law enforcement agency#natlea, national law enforcement agency in the United Kingdom. It is the UK's lead agency against organised crime; Human trafficking, human, Arms trafficking, weapon and Illegal drug t ...

(NCA) *United States -

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI)

References

Auxin, Operation Law enforcement in Australia Crime in Australia 2004 in Australia

Auxin Auxins (plural of auxin ) are a class of plant hormones (or plant-growth regulators) with some morphogen-like characteristics. Auxins play a cardinal role in coordination of many growth and behavioral processes in plant life cycles and are essent ...

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