Australians are among 300 people arrested as police target a South Korea dark web child pornography ring

Australians are among 300 people arrested as police target a South Korea dark web child pornography ring
Australians are among more than 300 people arrested in global dark web probe
International law enforcement authorities announced 337 arrests were made
The Darknet website 'Welcome to Video' sold videos to users for bitcoin

By ZOE ZACZEK FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA and AFP

PUBLISHED: 04:18 BST, 17 October 2019 | UPDATED: 04:18 BST, 17 October 2019

Australians are among more than 300 people arrested in a global dark web child pornography probe.

International law enforcement authorities announced Wednesday that 337 arrests had been made, following the shutdown of a notorious South Korean-based child pornography site.

Authorities from the United States, Britain, South Korea and other countries said they had rescued at least 23 minor victims of sexual exploitation.

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The website of 'Welcome to Video,' the leading underground vendor of child pornography, has been seized by law enforcement as part of an international investigation that has reaped 337 arrests around the world

The website, 'Welcome to Video', sold videos to users for bitcoin making it extremely difficult to track the buyers.

There were about 250,000 videos on the server which was seized by US, British and South Korean police on March 5, 2018.

Authorities said the footage depicted sickening sexual abuse of children as well as extremely young children being raped.

The operator, 23-year-old Son Jong Woo was arrested and jailed in Korea.

Since then hundreds of users from 12 countries have been tracked down and arrested.

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Australians are among more than 300 people arrested in a global dark web child pornography probe (stock image)

Arrests have taken place in US, the UK, South Korea, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Czech Republic, Canada, Ireland, Spain, Brazil and Australia.

'Darknet sites that profit from the sexual exploitation of children are among the most vile and reprehensible forms of criminal behavior,' said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.

According to the indictment, Welcome to Video was launched on the Darknet in June 2015.