At a Montreal news conference, Frederick Gaudreau, spokesman for the provincial Surete du Quebec police force said an investigation that began in 2006 culminated Wednesday with 17 raids by SQ officers and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 12 towns throughout the province.

The accused range in age from 17 to 26, and all but one were male, Gaudreau said.

As of Thursday morning, seven had been formally charged with illegally obtaining computer services, hacking computer data and possession of passwords for the purpose of committing the offenses, the newspaper said. Further charges were due to be filed Thursday.

Each of the accused could face a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted, and all were released from custody after processing, Gaudreau said.

He said prosecutors allege the group was involved with identity theft, data theft, spamming and denial of service attacks.