A 21-year-old US citizen, wanted for his alleged involvement in a US-based criminal network targeting minors online, was arrested in Thessaloniki on Monday, police have said. According to police sources, the man – who is of Greek descent – was arrested following an international wanted notice issued by Interpol at the request of US authorities. The suspect is accused of participating in a network known as 764, which is alleged to have coerced underage victims – some as young as 8 years old – into sharing videos depicting violent acts, self-harm and sexual abuse. The sextortion offenses are believed to have occurred between December 2023 and April 2024. Prosecutors allege that the criminal network specifically targeted vulnerable children, including those from the Black and LGBTQI+ communities, as well as minors struggling with mental health issues. Court records have also revealed the influence of extremist groups and ideologies on the 764 network, including the Satanist neo-Nazi group The Order of Nine Angles.
via ekathimerini; US citizen wanted for child sexual exploitation arrested in Thessaloniki
siehe auch: Leaders of 764 Arrested and Charged for Operating Global Child Exploitation Enterprise Leonidas Varagiannis, also known as “War,” 21, a citizen of the United States residing in Thessaloniki, Greece, and Prasan Nepal, also known as “Trippy,” 20, of North Carolina, were arrested and charged for operating an international child exploitation enterprise known as “764,” a nihilistic violent extremist (NVE) network. Varagiannis was arrested yesterday in Greece; Nepal was arrested on April 22, 2025, in North Carolina and had a court appearance. Court hearings in Washington, D.C. are pending for both defendants. The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Steven J. Jensen of the Washington Field Office, and FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia of the New York Field Office. According to the affidavit in the District of Columbia, 764 is a network of nihilistic violent extremists who engage in criminal conduct in the United States and abroad, seeking to destroy civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors. The 764 network’s accelerationist goals include social unrest and the downfall of the current world order, including the United States Government. As alleged, the defendants engaged in a coordinated criminal enterprise and led a core subgroup within 764 known as 764 Inferno, operated through encrypted messaging applications. As alleged, they directed, participated in, and otherwise caused the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and the defendants facilitated the grooming, manipulation, and extortion of minors. Veragiannis and Nepal allegedly ordered their victims to commit acts of self-harm and engaged in psychological torment and extreme violence against minors. The affidavit alleges that the group targeted vulnerable children online, coercing them into producing degrading and explicit content under threat and manipulation. This content includes “cut signs” and “blood signs” through which young girls would cut symbols into their bodies. The defendants and their co-conspirators around the world used the CSAM and other gore and violent material to create digital “Lorebooks,” which NVEs used as digital currency within the 764 network — traded, archived in encrypted “vaults,” and used as a means to recruit new members or maintain status within the network. The affidavit also details how the defendants instructed others members in grooming tactics and set content production expectations for new recruits. In multiple instances, defendants threatened and caused their victims to engage in self-mutilation, online and in-person sexual acts, harm to animals, sexual exploitation of siblings and others, acts of violence, threats of violence, suicide, and murder.