25 people have been arrested for alleged ties to hacktivist movement Anonymous in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain in the joint ‘Operation Unmask,’ which I’m sure has nothing to do with the INTERPOL website being taken down yesterday and everything to do with attacks against websites in Columbia and Chile dating from the middle of 2011.

The raid also involved the seizing of  250 pieces of equipment, and searches of 40 locations in 15 cities. The folks who got arrested range between the ages of 17 and 40, but their names and locations have not been released.

Said the INTERPOL release:

This operation shows that crime in the virtual world does have real consequences for those involved, and that the Internet cannot be seen as a safe haven for criminal activity, no matter where it originates or where it is targeted,

Again, we are absolutely convinced that these arrests came because some South American websites got taken down for a couple of hours, and not because the entirety of WikiLeaks’ new Stratfor cache was obtained by Anonymous hackers, or because of their coordinated protests against ACTA, or their continual embarrassment of law enforcement and corporations during regularly scheduled Friday hacks.

At this point the arrest have not had any outward effects on the Anonymous movement.

[Source: Forbes]