During the UEFA European Football Championship and the Summer Olympics, Europol conducted a large-scale operation that dismantled a network involved in illegal streaming of sports events and other pirated content.
According to AP, law enforcement authorities identified over 560 intermediaries who sold access to pirated streams of movies, TV shows, and channels.
Spain’s football league, La Liga, which actively participated in the investigation, reported that more than 100 individuals are suspected of involvement, with 11 arrests made.
The operation included over 100 searches, resulting in the seizure of approximately 30 servers, 270 IPTV devices, and more than 100 domains linked to illegal activities. Authorities also uncovered drugs, weapons, cryptocurrency worth approximately €1.6 million, and €40,000 in cash.
According to La Liga, the network served over 22 million users worldwide, providing access to more than 2,500 TV channels without the rights holders’ consent.
The operation, dubbed “Kratos,” involved law enforcement agencies from 15 countries, including Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The campaign ran from June to September and included collaboration among EU member states, non-EU countries, and private companies related to digital content.
