A covert operation by Swiss police, code-named Ninja Turtle, has led to the identification of more than 2,200 people involved in child sexual abuse and child pornography around the world.

The operation, which lasted for several years, used the profile of a 62-year-old German man who was arrested in 2015 for distributing child pornography on GigaTribe, a platform that allows anonymous file sharing.

By continuing to use his profile, investigators were able to expose other paedophiles and users of illegal child sex images.

The police statement said that the operation was a success and that it resulted in arrests in Switzerland and other countries, such as Croatia, Brazil, France and Spain.

Some of the suspects were not only consumers of child pornography, but also perpetrators who physically harmed children.