Europol has supported the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) in taking down an illegal IPTV (Internet Protocol television) service serving over 1 000 000 users across Europe. On 23 May, raids were carried out across the Netherlands as part of an illegal streaming crackdown. The officers from the FIOD searched properties in various locations in The Netherlands. Several individuals were arrested for involvement in the illegal streaming of premium content.
Packages bought by subscribers gave them access to over 10 000 live TV channels alongside a library of 15 000 films and TV shows.
Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Centre supported this investigation with analytical support, helping identify the key targets and their criminal activity across Europe. Europol organized several operational meetings to bring together the investigators in the different European countries affected by this criminal network.
Europol experts were also deployed in various locations in the Netherlands during the action day to support the FIOD in its enforcement activities.