Two police officers are allegedly among pedophiles in Greece who paid large amounts of money to watch the sexual abuse and rape of small children from the Philippines live on the internet, police announced on Friday.

The hair-raising case was uncovered by the electronic crime squad after receiving information from Interpol in the UK, according to which the electronic traces of six internet users, who watched small children under the age of 9 being sexually abused in real time, were located in Greece.

According to police, the suspects paid a company in the Philippines through paypal accounts using a special card and the amounts ranged between 100 and 2,500 euros depending on the kind of sexual abuse and the abused child’s age.

The “buyers” watched the abuse online after arranging an appointment with the pornographic material traffickers who notified them via the internet on the day and time they could watch online and in real time what they had ordered.

Five of the suspects aged 26, 27, 34, 39 and 65 were identified by the electronic crimes squad, who organised police raids of their houses in Athens, Thessaloniki, and Agrinio in the presence of court officers. The traces of the sixth suspect led to a private company which has not been identified yet.

Police have confiscated hard drives and personal computers found in the houses of the suspects.

The two police officers, aged 26 and 34, who serve in the region of Attiki, were suspended from duty. Two of the suspects, aged 27 and 65, were not in their houses at the time of the police raid and according to information, the 65-year-old is a businessman from Thessaloniki.

No arrests were made and the case files will be forwarded to the responsible prosecutors. The seized electronic evidence will be examined by the police crime lab.