Operation Weeting, one of the the British Metropolitan Police operations in England tasked with investigating the phone-hacking scandal around Rupert Murdoch’s News International, has netted several arrests. Among those nabbed was Rebekah Brooks, who has become an infamous celebrity in the U.K. for her role in the affair.

The statement from New Scotland Yard read:

Police have today (Tuesday, 13 March) arrested six people at addresses in London, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Hertfordshire.

The co-ordinated arrests were made between approximately 0500 and 0700 this morning by officers from Operation Weeting, the MPS inquiry into the phone-hacking of voicemail boxes.

All six – five men and one woman – were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, contrary to the Criminal Law Act 1977.

The phone-hacking investigation has already resulted in the closing of Murdoch’s New of the World tabloid in London. The scandal broke when several of the tabloid’s reporters were accused of hacking voicemails of people they were investigating.

In one instance, reporters were pursuing a case about a missing child, reporters hacked her voicemail to try to pursue the case faster than releases from the police would normally allow.

As the scandal grew in scope, including accusations of police bribery, investigators in the U.S. have begun to look into whether News Corp. has engaged in similar practices within the U.S.

Rebekah Brooks also oversaw a campaign of “naming and shaming” suspected pedophiles in the News of the World while she was there. This bypassed the usual justice procedures and led to vigilante actions, including against innocent people. Brooks defended her actions. But, her reputation abong Britons has become, shall we say, sullied.