After arresting 40 people in a crackdown on mafia activities last week, Spanish police are turning their attention to peddlers of child pornography. The investigation began when a Spaniard complained to authorities that hard-core photographs of very young children were available through an Internet chat room.

Interior Minister, Jose Antonio Alonso, says thirteen regions across the country are involved in the operation. So far twenty arrests have been made but around 500 are expected worldwide, with police in other European and Latin American countries also taking part.

During their search for who is putting the material on the net, authorities say they have tracked down more than 900 connections from all over the world during the last fortnight. Spanish detectives say they have also found more than 20,000 items containing child porn, including videos, photographs and MP3 files.

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