(PARIS) - The European Union has launched a vast crackdown on suspected paedophiles, targeting some 2,500 people across the 27-member bloc, police said Wednesday.

Computer equipment was seized in police searches across Europe and 25 people were arrested in France alone, in an operation launched on Monday and codenamed "Koala", officials said.

Police are following up on leads discovered during a swoop on suspected paedophiles in Australia last year.

Europol and the EU's justice division Eurojust are to hold a press conference on the operation in The Hague on Monday.

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