Operation Flicker--world wide "game changer" in child *advertiser censored*

A very simple, non-sensational article which just might have huge word wide implications!! Please read it carefully. Why no clanging cymbals?? I'll see what else I can find. I know we've seen the "operation" name before but there's never been quite the overview of how large this bust grown. To date: 5200 American subscribers and 4400 foreign subscribers. My guess is that some people are not enjoying their coffee this morning.



http://www.canada.com/news/Investig...ertiser censored*+business/3570533/story.html

Investigation hits commercial child *advertiser censored* business


"The commercial child-*advertiser censored* industry has been dealt a crippling blow following a lengthy U.S.-led investigation, which also included the RCMP.

The four-year investigation — led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency — helped shutter more than 200 commercial child-*advertiser censored* websites, which represent about 90 per cent of the global marketplace, said Matthew Dunn, an ICE supervising special agent...."

and

"...."It is a game changer," FBI special agent Michael Dzielak was quoted as saying. "It probably puts commercial child *advertiser censored* to bed, almost entirely...."

and

"....More than 450 customers in the U.S. alone have been arrested, he said.

"All of those individuals no longer have any significant commercial method of obtaining child *advertiser censored* — and the profits are gone for the criminal enterprise," he said. Customers in the U.S. included doctors, police officers, sheriff's deputies, school teachers, attorneys and church preachers....."

more at link

Fantastic! Go get 'em guys!

The de-classified government document about Project/Operation Flicker. It's dense but very interesting reading:

http://www.dodig.mil/fo/Foia/PDFs/OperationFlickerReportsJuly2010pdf.pdf


Note: I'm assuming that the terms, Operation Flicker and Project Flicker are interchangeable.

Wow! This is fabulous news!

The original article by the Scripps news service will not open for me. I wonder if it's being swamped due to worried customers? I found this which lists an even larger number of suspects. After really the document above, though, it sounds as if some people were not charged due to insufficient resources. That's upsetting.

Note the paragraph about the images themselves. This could be the answer as to why LE so quickly says that images are "not believed to be of local children" when there's an arrest. Maybe LE have seen the same images over and over and that's why they are certain they are not looking at kids in Roseburg, OR or Blue Springs, MO.

It truly is like parting the veil......




http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/ne...worldwide-child-*advertiser censored*-dragnet

Lawrence and Leavenworth [KS] cases linked to an international child *advertiser censored* dragnet involving 132 countries


"...details coming out from the NBC Action News/Scripps Howard News Service review of the scope “Operation Flicker” signify an international law enforcement milestone.

“It's very surprising that you'd have 30,000 people that would have been busted in this operation,” Lanza said. “There's no operation in the history of any law enforcement agency that had that kind of numbers.”

10,000 of the suspects came from the US, resulting in hundreds of arrests.

and

".... it is unclear where the children depicted in images from the metro cases came from, many of the pictures came from footage of children having sex in studios in the Ukraine which were then re-sold via a multi-tiered online empire....."

and

"....Child exploitation experts say the global bust does not mean the online universe is now child-*advertiser censored* free. The lion’s share of these images and videos are disseminated for free via e-mail and peer-to-peer file sharing between individuals, who often belong to trust-based clubs....."

more at link

The original article by the Scripps news service will not open for me. I wonder if it's being swamped due to worried customers? I found this which lists an even larger number of suspects. After really the document above, though, it sounds as if some people were not charged due to insufficient resources. That's upsetting.

Click to expand...

You're right. That is extremely disturbing. Resources must be found to adequately prosecute ALL offenders who have been caught.

From Missizzy's link:

"It is a game changer," FBI special agent Michael Dzielak was quoted as saying. "It probably puts commercial child *advertiser censored* to bed, almost entirely."

I hope and pray that this is correct, but it seems to me too good to be true. Could one big bust of the right people really, really cripple the child *advertiser censored* industry?? 450 U.S. citizens?? That is all it took? Then why has it taken so long? Although they state they closed over 200 commercial web sites which took out about 90% of the global marketplace :bananajump:

Fantastic if true, but I guess my impression has been that this problem is much larger than this....I fervently hope I am incorrect. If what they state is accurate, then this was a major coup. Way to go guys!!

I have no idea why but none of the Scripps web pages will open for me. I did, however, find the Scripps article attached to the following. Scroll down a bit. Note, it is two pages.

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/lo...targets-child-*advertiser censored*-worldwide

Here is a story from Scripps Howard News Service that details the issue on a national level:

By ISAAC WOLF, Scripps Howard News Service

If you'd like to refresh your memory concerning some of the arrests attributed to Operation Flicker, all you need to do is google~~Operation Flicker arrest.

Lots of cases we have threads on and many many more.

The ring used a variety of online and traditional payment methods, elaborate defense measures and a franchise business model one Interpol agent compared to a fast food chain to make millions of dollars providing 10,000 Americans and 20,000 others across the globe access to images and videos of sexually exploited boys and girls, some reportedly as young as 3 years old.

Click to expand...

From Missizzy's link. This is what concerns me. They have made hundreds of arrests out of 10,000 customers. That is not a great percentage of arrests. Every bit helps, but I don't feel enough resources are being devoted to prosecuting each and every offender they get evidence on.