Agents of the National Police have arrested six men in Santa Cruz de Tenerife as alleged perpetrators of crimes of corruption of minors, distribution of child sexual exploitation material, and illegal possession of weapons.
The investigation began in February 2025, when the Central Unit for Cybercrime of the National Police detected the activity of several users residing in the province who had allegedly downloaded and distributed child pornography.
The investigations carried out by specialized agents from the Tenerife province made it possible to identify and locate the six investigated individuals in different parts of the island territory (La Victoria de Acentejo, San Cristóbal de la Laguna, Puerto de la Cruz, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife), whose modus operandi consisted of downloading and distributing pedophilic material through peer-to-peer networks or "networks between equals," which allow computers or devices to exchange information directly with each other, without the need for a central server to control communications.
Once the corresponding judicial authorization was obtained, the investigators carried out six entries and searches in different homes, where, in addition to making the arrests, they seized numerous desktop computers, high-capacity hard drives, mobile phones, and an abundant amount of illicit content.
During one of the searches, in addition to the corresponding digital evidence of child pornography, the agents located seven illicit firearms prepared for use: five handguns and two long guns.
Likewise, the detainee stored more than 1,400 cartridges of different calibers, some of them classified as war ammunition. In another of the searches, investigators found that one of the detainees had several previous convictions for similar acts, locating in his home various applications specifically used for downloading illicit files.
The exhaustive forensic analysis carried out by the technology investigation specialists of the National Police, who have become true digital "trackers," has been key to clarifying the facts. The agents managed to recover hidden files, as well as activity logs that the investigated individuals had tried to delete or camouflage to avoid leaving a trace of their actions and to hinder the investigation.
The recovery of this digital evidence allowed to prove the functioning of the infrastructure used for the distribution of illicit material and to accurately reconstruct the modus operandi employed by the detainees, who, after their arrest, were placed at the disposal of the competent judicial authority.
Citizen Collaboration
The National Police thanks and reminds citizens that they can collaborate, anonymously if they wish, if they have knowledge, indications, or suspicions of criminal activities, through the website www.policía.es in the Collaborate section, providing information that will be treated confidentially by National Police specialists.