A major international operation has successfully dismantled a massive transnational criminal organization suspected of distributing pirated audiovisual content to over 22 million users. The operation, coordinated by Europol and Eurojust, involved law enforcement agencies in Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Croatia, England, the Netherlands, Romania, France, Bulgaria, and Germany.
The operation, spearheaded by the Catania Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Croatian State Attorney Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime, resulted in 89 property searches in Italy alone, with an additional 14 searches conducted internationally. Over 270 officers from the Polizia Postale participated in the raids in Italy. Eleven individuals were arrested by the Cybercrime Division of the Croatian Police.
Authorities seized cryptocurrencies exceeding €1,650,000 and cash exceeding €40,000 – a small fraction of the estimated €3 billion in annual illegal revenue generated by the organization. Mark Mulready, Co-president of the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA), stated: “We applaud the efforts of the Catania Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Croatian State Attorney Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime, Europol, Eurojust, and all of the law enforcement agencies involved in these operations. The scale of these multi-jurisdictional law enforcement actions highlights the considerable challenge our industry faces when dealing with such sophisticated international pirate networks.” Mulready also expressed gratitude to AAPA members, including Premier League, Sky Group, Nagravision, Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL), beIN Sports, United Media, Friend MTS and Irdeto, for their support.