Detectives from 30 law enforcement agencies are serving search warrants throughout Santa Clara County today in a crackdown targeting child pornography.

In what it is calling the largest child porn sweep ever in Northern California, the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is executing 20 search warrants as part of "Operation Chickenhawk."

Participating agencies include police from Mountain View, San Jose, Santa Clara, Los Gatos and Santa Cruz, as well as the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Department of Homeland Security. All are part of the task force.

The warranted searches will enable investigators to obtain evidence linking the suspects to the possession and distribution of child pornography, San Jose police said.

The San Jose Police Department, the lead agency for the task force, conducted the 20 investigations that led to the sweep, police said.

Since January, the task force has arrested more than 40 men for possession of child pornography, according to police.

— Bay City News Service

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