The police and the public prosecutor's office are carrying out a nationwide raid on 65 suspects who are said to have owned and distributed recordings of child abuse.
This was announced by the Cologne public prosecutor.
The proceedings therefore emerged from the investigations into the Bergisch Gladbach abuse complex.
According to the announcement, special task forces (SEK) of the police were also on duty.
Searches in ten federal states
According to information from the dpa news agency, the focus was on North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Lower Saxony.
A total of ten federal states were affected.
In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, the searches are said to be directed against 19 suspects.
The missions were still running on Tuesday morning.
"An initial inspection and assessment of seized evidence in the police authorities involved in the operation has already started," said the investigators.
It is the second nationwide large-scale operation of the investigation group in the Bergisch Gladbach case.
Last September, the police in twelve federal states with around a thousand emergency services searched 60 addresses of around 50 suspects.
Central figure already condemned
The special organizational structure (BAO) "Berg" of the Cologne police has been investigating since October 2019. At that time, large amounts of abuse recordings were found in Jörg L.'s house from Bergisch Gladbach.
In autumn 2020, the man was sentenced to twelve years in prison.
The investigators came across hundreds of other suspects through its network.
The police work together with the central and contact point Cybercrime (ZAC) of the Cologne public prosecutor's office.
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bbr / dpa