In New Zealand, 71 suspects have been identified, 46 arrested and 12 investigations are still in progress.
Six children in this country were protected as a result, the DIA said.
Operation H, also involving NZ Police and Customs, began in October 2019 after an alert from an electronic service provider, which had found tens of thousands of people using the platform to share what the DIA said was some of the most horrific and devastating child sexual abuse material online.
DIA said it had been the largest and most challenging online child exploitation operation led out of New Zealand.
The operation also brought together law enforcement agencies from around the world, including the FBI, the Australian Federal Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the National Crime Agency in the United Kingdom and Interpol.
To date, 125 New Zealand-based accounts have been identified as part of the investigation.
DIA digital child exploitation team manager and Operation H head Tim Houston said the operation and the prosecutions that followed represented a major success in international efforts to undermine and disestablish the environments and networks that sought to exploit children.
''I commend the ongoing support of our law enforcement partners domestically and across the world for their dedication and hard work,'' Houston said.
''This operation will have an impact on the global networks that deal in the most horrific and damaging material."
DIA was extraordinarily proud of the effect the operation would have on children's lives around the world, he said.
The operation served as a warning to other offenders preying on children online and distributing child exploitation material, which would not be tolerated in New Zealand, the department said.
Timeline for Operation H
• September 2019 - ESP provider reports offenders either in possession of, viewing, and/or sharing child abuse material. Senior investigator reviews report and identifies approximately 32gb of files per link.
• October 2019 - ESP supplies DIA with account information indicating more than 90,000 users internationally.
• October-November 2019 - Investigators disseminate relevant data to domestic and international partners. Over 24-months, DIA investigators coordinated a domestic and international team who identified users previously not known to law enforcement who were viewing and sharing the material.
February 2020 onward - DIA and Police undertake warrants and prosecutions into New Zealand-based offenders
DIA and Police continue to work to identify individuals behind the many user names and accounts uncovered.
The department said it anticipates inquiries will continue for many months to come.
DIA provided two case studies of offenders in New Zealand.
Case one:
Law enforcement searched a South Island suspect last October identified as part of the operation. The individual had no criminal history.
The offender admitted watching child exploitation material for more than 20 years as well as other forms of harmful material such as bestiality and torture bondage. The offender's cloud storage was found to contain more than 27,000 files depicting child exploitation.
"During an interview with law enforcement, the offender also revealed that they regularly travelled to Southeast Asia and paid families to sexually abuse their children over camera for financial gain. Although the offender denied engaging in sexual exploitation while abroad, it is likely from the information obtained that they were a sex tourist."
Case Two:
In June last year, a North Island man who worked with children as a sports coach and teacher's aide was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on multiple charges relating to the possession of child sexual exploitation material.
Although there was no evidence the man physically offended against children, the operation found more than 50,000 child sexual abuse material files in his possession.
