The Spanish National Police, in collaboration with the Europol agency, have terminated a major pirate IPTV service which served no less than 500,000 users in Europe. Four people were arrested and an investigation was opened on 95 partner resellers.
Decidedly, pirates at the head of illegal IPTV and streaming services have been dropping like flies in recent months. In October 2022, we learned in particular that two resellers of pirate boxes were sentenced to serve a 2-year prison sentence. And just a few days ago, a British citizen was sentenced to 30 months in prison after earning more than 2.6 million euros by reselling pirate boxes.
And precisely, we have just learned that the Spanish authorities, in collaboration with Europol, have just made a new dragnet. In effect, a major pirate IPTV service, which served no less than 500,000 users in Europe, has been shut down. According to the Spanish National Police, different packages were offered, allowing subscribers to access 2600 TV channels live as well as a substantial VOD library of 23,000 movies and series.
Police shut down decade-old pirate IPTV service
Many websites were used to advertise the service and to sell the illegal subscription plans. And to do this, he relied on a network of resellers located in Spain, United Kingdom, Malta, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece.
In total, this service generated annual profits of more than 3 million euros for the four pirates at its head. According to investigators, the money was laundered in Spain and other European countries. Precisely, the operators were arrested by the police, and a survey is now open on 95 partner resellers. In addition, police say they seized two high-end vehicles with an estimated value of 180,000 euros, as well as 2,800 euros in cash, computer equipment and important documents during the arrest of the four alleged tenants. Eight bank accounts, which contained a total of 3 million euros, were frozen.
We do not yet know the exact name of the service, but we do know that it has been active for at least 10 years. In addition, the Spanish police claim to have disabled ten administration panels connected to 32 servers located in France, the Netherlands and Spain. Note that this investigation was launched in 2020 following a complaint from the Alliance For Creativity and Entertainment.
Source: Torrent Freak