Operation Upriver: 7 arrests, one in the Varese area

Context

TL;DR

• Upriver operation: seven arrests
• One of the arrests in the Varese area
• More than 100 thousand files seized
• Investigation coordinated by the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office

Key facts

• Operation → Upriver
• Objective → possession and online exchange of child pornography material
• Arrests → seven
• Complaints → seven
• Files seized → over 100 thousand
• Devices seized → approximately thirty
• Data volume → over 26 thousand gigabytes
• Start of investigation → 2025

Seven people were arrested red-handed during the State Police's Upriver operation, aimed at combating the detention and online exchange of child pornography material. The investigation also involved the province of Varese: one of those arrested lives in the Varese area.

Launched in 2025 in the framework of international police cooperation, the investigation was directed by the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office and by the Milan Cyber ​​Security Operations Center engaged in the activities, under the coordination of the National Center for combating online child pornography.

The involvement of Varesotto

The investigators followed the online channels used to circulate the illicit material, identifying some accounts from which images and videos had been shared and downloaded. The searches carried out subsequently led to the flagrant arrests.

The investigative sequence connects the activity carried out online to the interventions carried out in the area: first the monitoring of channels and accounts, then the searches and arrests. For the Varese area, the element indicated is the local residence of one of the people involved in the operation.

The investigation did not cover just one territory. Its management by the Milanese bodies and the coordination of the national center are part of an activity that has affected several Italian areas, keeping the detention and online exchange of illicit material at the centre. The activities described do not end in the province of Varese: the execution of the arrests involved other territories, while the common point remains the use of online channels to share and download images and videos.

Operational details

Arrests, reports and seizures

The geographical distribution

The arrested individuals are between 38 and 78 years old. Two arrests were carried out in the province of Milan and two in that of Bergamo. One arrest concerns the Varese area, one the Vicenza area and one in Florence. The distribution indicates the areas reached by Operation Upriver, which involved several areas of Italy.

In addition to the seven arrested people, another seven people were reported. The overall picture indicated in the investigation is therefore fourteen people involved, including those arrested and those reported. The distinction between the two groups is the one reported in the operation: seven arrests in the act and seven reports.

The seizure figures

The seizure involved more than 100 thousand files, including images and videos, as well as approximately thirty digital devices: smartphones, tablets, computers and hard drives.

The total volume of the seized data exceeds 26 thousand gigabytes. This figure supplements the data on the files and digital devices seized and conveys the scale of the operation carried out by investigators on the monitored online channels.

The quantitative tally thus complements the geographical distribution of the arrests. On one side are the people identified in the provinces and territories indicated by the operation; on the other, the digital material collected during the searches. The Varese area appears in the geography of the arrests, while the numbers of files, devices and gigabytes concern the entire Upriver operation.

The sequence of data describes an investigation that resulted both in measures against individuals, with arrests and reports, and in seizures of digital material. The figures provided concern images, videos, smartphones, tablets, computers and hard drives, together with the total volume exceeding 26 thousand gigabytes.

Key points

Postal Police and international cooperation

The operators involved

More than sixty Postal Police officers took part in the activities, coming from operational centers and sections in various Italian provinces, including Varese. The contribution was therefore distributed among operational structures and local sections of the Postal Police, as indicated in the operation.

Authorities from several European countries worked together in the international action, with the support of Europol. International police cooperation had accompanied the launch of the investigation in 2025 and constitutes the framework within which the Upriver activity was developed.

The participation of the Postal Police involved operational centers and sections in several Italian provinces, including Varese. The territorial work was carried out alongside the involvement of the European authorities and the support of Europol, mentioned in the description of the international action.

The stage of the proceedings

From a judicial standpoint, the proceedings are at the preliminary investigation stage. This is the status indicated for the investigation following the arrests, reports and seizures described during the operation.

The persons under investigation cannot be considered guilty before a final judgment. This clarification concerns the procedural stage of the matter and accompanies the description of the operation, without turning the arrests and reports into a final decision on the responsibility of the persons involved.

The scope of the operation therefore remains twofold: the activity of the Postal Police involved officers from various provinces, while international coordination involved European authorities and Europol. The proceedings, however, are still at the preliminary stage indicated by the source.

Source: varesenews.it