20 arrested tied to malware ring

LISBON, Portugal — European and American officials said Thursday that they have arrested 20 people in several countries for allegedly belonging to an international ring that laundered millions of euros stolen by cybercriminals through malware schemes.

The international police operation led by Portuguese investigators and the FBI included 14 more European countries, under the umbrella of Europol. Europol said more than 40 homes were searched by agents.

Most of the house searches were carried out in Latvia, where six arrests were made. Another six arrests were made in Britain, four in Spain, and one each in Portugal, Poland, the U.S. and Australia, according to Europol.