>>4033205
Emmerson and others in this ring had been contacted by Sergio Marzola, an Italian webmaster and child porn producer with connections to the original DuTroux Affair. Apparently Emmerson attempted to make an appointment with Marzola as they both were arrested:
The criminal was arrested in full discretion. He had contacted by Internet Sergio Marzola {photo}, an Italian man living in Ferrare, webmaster and producer of child pornography, who gave him an appointment in a hotel of Bruges. He had been paid 250 euros to let his daughters filmed dressed in paedophile lingerie, 500 euro to film them naked and 750 euro for him to rape one of them. The Italian authorities and the paedophile network were informed on the spot. Sergio Marzola hastened to organize his emigration to his second residence Ukraine. The Italian police let him do under high supervision and phone-tapping, which had the advantage of being able to surprise him with his "bare essential", all packed up and intended to be sent on the first aircraft to Kiev:
A wardrobe of 500 erotic clothing for children;
Hundreds of child pornography DVDs;
An important computer and video equipment;
An archive of 30.000 electronic letters;
And 100.000 euro hidden into two loudspeakers.
He was arrested, suitcases in hands, this 11 August 2006. Suspected be the manager of approximately 30 Internet sites intended for the exchange of child pornography, Sergio Marzola earned from two to four hundred euro per transaction, for the modest monthly investment six hundred euro: a Web space at that cost, able to stand an important traffic.
Source: Jacqueline de Croÿ (archive.is backup)
Operation Joint Hammer/Koala (2008)
Following Operation Hamlet, international law enforcement agencies would subsequently uncover a massive child pornography ring formerly connected to the "Fun Club" which led to the arrest of 700 individuals around the world.(3)
From these leads, in 2008 the United States conducted another pedophile bust codenamed Operation Joint Hammer. European agencies conducted a simultaneous operation alongside Joint Hammer titled Operation Koala. More than 1,000 were arrested around the world this time in connection to the international child pornography ring:
Operation Joint Hammer has resulted in the rescue of 14 girls—some as young as 3 years old—who were being sexually abused by pornographers. Approximately 170 people have been arrested, more than 60 of them U.S. citizens. Seven major child pornography rings, hosting the worst of the worst, have been dismantled. And the investigation is far from complete.
Belgian police identified and arrested the molester, who provided information about the video’s producer, an Italian national who ran a pornographic website. When Italian police arrested the producer and shut down his website, they retrieved 50,000 e-mails to the porn site. Those e-mails formed the basis of Operation Joint Hammer. They were routed by Europol to the 28 countries from which they originated—with more than 11,000 coming from the United States.
Mr. Wilder: Based on the intelligence and the additional evidence obtained during Achilles, a separate joint international investigation involving 28 different countries was launched, titled Operation Koala. Today, Koala has resulted in greater than 850 arrests and the identification or recovery of greater than 20 additional child victims.
Source: FBI (archive.is backup)