Polish police smashed a pedophile ring, arresting 17 people on suspicion of distributing child pornography via the Internet, Polish Radio External Service reported on Saturday.

Warsaw police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski said the suspects were found searching for pornographic materials by the Interpol Office in Wiesbaden, Germany via a P2P social networking program.

They could face up to eight years in prison if convicted.

In an operation carried out in 12 Polish provinces, the police raided 17 households and companies, seizing 21 computers and laptops, removable disc drives and over 1,300 DVDs.

This is the fifth raid conducted by law enforcement agencies in Poland so far this year, with 120 detentions recorded in January.

In 2007-2009, over 1,000 people suspected of possessing and distributing child pornography were caught, 299 of them subsequently charged.

WARSAW, July 31 (RIA Novosti)