Europol has successfully dismantled a massive network of illegal sports and entertainment content providers, with the operation spanning 15 countries, including Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.
The operation, conducted during high-profile events such as the UEFA EURO 2024 and the Paris Olympics, led to the identification of more than 560 resellers of pirated content, including sports streams, movies, series, and TV channels. La Liga, Spain’s top soccer league, collaborated with the investigation and reported that over 100 suspects were identified, with 11 arrests made.
During the operation, over 100 searches were conducted, resulting in the seizure of nearly 30 servers, 270 IPTV devices, and 100 domains linked to illegal activities. Additionally, drugs, weapons, and cryptocurrency worth approximately €1.6 million were confiscated, along with €40,000 in cash.
The illegal network, which distributed more than 2,500 TV channels, reached over 22 million users globally without the consent of copyright holders. Europol’s “Operation Kratos,” which took place from June to September, involved both EU and non-EU law enforcement agencies, as well as private digital content companies.
