The customer list led to a global sweep across 94 countries, resulting in the arrest of 348 individuals . Among those detained were teachers, doctors, priests, and public officials whose names appeared on the Azov client registries.
was a Toronto-based production and distribution company operated by Brian Way. The operation was completely dismantled in May 2011 during a massive, multi-year international law enforcement sting known as Project Spade . The Origins of Azov Films azov films boy fights xxviii holiday disc 2divx upd
By 2010, the Toronto Police Service, in collaboration with the United States Postal Inspection Service and international agencies, launched a major undercover operation. The customer list led to a global sweep
The defense for Way and several of his global customers argued that because the films contained nudity rather than explicit sexual contact, they fell beneath the legal definition of child pornography. The operation was completely dismantled in May 2011
However, the production of these films involved exploiting vulnerable minors. Many of the children featured in the videos were from impoverished areas in Eastern Europe, particularly . Local operators, such as Markus R. in Romania, gained the trust of local families before filming the boys and selling the raw footage to Way in Canada. Project Spade and the Global Crackdown
On May 1, 2011, Canadian authorities executed a search warrant at Azov Films' Etobicoke offices, seizing business records, digital servers, and customer databases.