Swiss police say divisions in 19 of 26 cantons (states) joined an operation against online child porn in which 109 people are said to be under investigation, including minors.
Published reports from Europe said that in the third such massive child porn probe in Switzerland, several thousand persons are believed to have received and distributed online child porn, mostly but not exclusively by way of file-swapping programs.
Federal police said the 109 suspects thus far targeted were questioned over the past few months and their homes had been searched. They're believed to have visited Internet sites and networks to swap child porn as well as movies and music.
This probe grew out of an operation said to have started in Norway and Italy but spread swiftly enough to other European countries as well.
Previous Swiss child porn operations included a September 2004 sweep, Operation Falcon, that investigated almost 400 people and has so far produced 18 suspended prison sentences and 12 fines.
Swiss authorities said the cases first went after commercial child pornographers but soon expanded to individual collectors as well.
