Swiss Operation “Ninja Turtle” Exposes Thousands of Pedophiles Worldwide Several NATO Soldiers Wounded in Skirmishes in North Kosovo

Hidden behind pseudonyms, they operate online. They exchange data and distribute illegal pornographic material. More than a decade ago, the Federal Police Agency (Fedpol) received the first indications that a person living in the Canton of Aargau was illegally distributing pornographic material under the pseudonym “Ninja Turtle” through the GigaTribe platform.

This peer-to-peer file sharing network offers uncomplicated, unrestricted and above all anonymous data exchange. And “Ninja Turtle” also used this fact to illegally distribute and exchange pornographic material with numerous other people, as the Aargau Canton Police wrote in a statement on Tuesday.

At the time, it was still unclear who was behind «Ninja Turtle». But it was clear that the data was spread from the canton of Aargau. Fedpol therefore informed the cantonal police in Aargau. According to the announcement, further investigations eventually led to the arrest of “Ninja Turtle” – as far back as 2012, a year after Fedpol’s first tip. In 2015, the then 62-year-old German was finally sentenced.

The profile remains active and brings great success to the police worldwide

“‘Ninja Turtle’ did not disappear from the network, but remained as a profile for undercover investigations,” the police write. First, specialists from Fedpol and then those from the Aargau Cantonal Police used the profile to identify other anonymous pedophiles.

“The multi-year secret operation on the Internet has been crowned with success,” the Cantonal Police in Aargau now write: Since then, 2,200 pedophiles have been tracked down. “Suspected perpetrators in Switzerland and worldwide have been reported to the responsible authorities.”

In this context, arrests were made in various cantons and abroad. Including in Croatia, Brazil, France, Peru, Romania and Spain. Which cantons it is – apart from Aargau – is currently still open. Research on this by CH Media is pending with the authorities.

The fight against pedophiles is intense

According to information from the police of the canton of Aargau, the identified perpetrators are not only people who consumed child pornography material. But there are also so-called “hands-on” perpetrators, ie those who have abused children themselves.

“They feel safe behind their pseudonyms and network across all national and cantonal borders,” said the Aargau cantonal police. But she continues: “The long-term, intensive investigations and the good cooperation – nationally and internationally – have nevertheless led to the identification of the suspects and numerous arrests.”

The fight against pedocrime on the Internet is resource-intensive and requires close cooperation, both at an official level and with the website operators, writes the Aargau Cantonal Police. Nevertheless, she is pleased – finally writing: “As Operation ‘Ninja Turtle’ shows, this effort to protect potential victims is worth it.” (cri/sat/chmedia)