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Hunting Warhead · CBC

Episode 3: Operation Artemis

November 11, 2019·45 min·4 clips
Paul Griffiths had to master Warhead's style to post a canary message, risking the entire undercover operation.
Warhead is still the target. Paul Griffiths, speaking from the Queensland Police Service, remembers Task Force Argos staying in contact while the arrest operation plays out in the United States. There is no live feed, just officers waiting across time zones and trying to build a picture from scraps of news. Then the operation changes hands. Griffiths describes handing control to undercover colleagues who now have to keep Child's Play running well enough to fool its users. The work is blunt and grim. They monitor the site, look for new material, and watch for people who are producing it or close to the production of it. Suspicion starts to leak through the user base. Some users do not know for sure what happened, but one or two suspect enough to say something. That gives the undercover officers a new job: quiet the rumors while still sounding like trusted insiders. By the end of October, the transfer is done. Child's Play is on a server in Australia, which puts Task Force Argos where it wanted to be. Most users believe the site is safe. That false confidence gives investigators space to watch, talk, and pursue users who may be tied to fresh abuse. The episode stays tight on the operational burden: becoming the thing investigators want to dismantle, long enough to find people close to producing the material and identify victims. The ending jumps ahead, with a later Homeland Security visit and a household suddenly drawn into the case.

As heard by us

Measured investigation after the arrest, with each procedural step carrying real weight.

Task Force Argos anchors the episode, and the interest comes less from spectacle than from the hours after the arrest: the waiting, the coordination across time zones, and the effort to keep Child's Play stable while the next move is assembled.

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Why you'd press play

Hear Task Force Argos waiting for Warhead's arrest so the next phase can move forward.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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