Operation Ore
| Operation Ore | |
|---|---|
| Operation name | Operation Ore |
| Type | Child pornography crackdown |
| Roster | |
| Planned by | United States |
| Executed by | Australian Federal Police, United Kingdom, United States |
| Mission | |
| Target | associated users associated with website portal Landslide Productions |
| Objective | To round up and prosecute suspects named in a Tip by the United States FBI from Operation Avalanche |
| Timeline | |
| Date executed | May 2002 |
| Results | |
| Suspects | 7,250 |
| Arrests | 3,744 |
| Criminal complaints | 1,848 |
| Convictions | 1,451 |
Operation Ore was a British police operation that commenced in 1999 following information received from US law enforcement, which was intended to prosecute thousands of users of a website reportedly featuring child pornography. It was the United Kingdom's biggest ever computer crime investigation, leading to 7,250 suspects identified, 4,283 homes searched, 3,744 arrests, 1,848 charged, 1,451 convictions, 493 cautioned and 140 children removed from suspected dangerous situations and an estimated 33 suicides. Operation Ore identified and prosecuted some sex offenders, but the validity of the police procedures was later questioned, as errors in the investigations resulted in many false arrests.
Operation Ore followed a similar crackdown in the United States, called Operation Avalanche; in the US, 100 people were charged from the 35,000 US access records available. In total, 390,000 individuals in over 60 countries were found to have accessed material in the combined investigations.