A syndicate recently busted for selling pornographic content involving babies and children is believed to have international links, says Bukit Aman.
Bukit Aman criminal investigation department director M Kumar said Malaysian police had received information from foreign authorities regarding the syndicate’s sale of pornographic content.
He said many videos and images of child sexual abuse had been uploaded on certain Dark Web sites with international networks.
“Police are facing difficulties in tracing the owners and individuals with access to the Dark Web,” Bernama reported him as saying after a meeting involving the communications ministry, police and TikTok at Bukit Aman today.
Kumar said no new arrests have been made so far apart from the 11 people, including the alleged mastermind, detained in Johor Bahru between July 19 and Aug 19.
On Aug 29, police uncovered the syndicate’s activities through Op Pedo, a month-long operation by the Malaysian Internet Crime Against Children unit of the police’s sexual, women and child investigation division, together with international agencies.
Kumar said the mastermind, a 29-year-old man arrested on July 19, allegedly recorded himself sexually abusing the victims before selling the videos to selected local and foreign buyers.
The main suspect’s modus operandi was to obtain a “supply” of babies using Facebook, where he looked for posts offering babies for adoption.
“The suspect would provide RM1,500 to RM3,500 in cash to the mothers and also settle their hospital bills,” Kumar said.
He shared a seized birth certificate listing the suspect as the father of one of the babies, indicating that the birth mothers were cared for until legal birth certificates could be obtained from the national registration department.
He said the suspect had secured custody of his victims by legally adopting them.
Kumar said the suspect was also believed to have looked for other victims randomly by targeting children unsupervised by their parents or guardians in his neighbourhood.
“So far, we have identified and discovered three victims (from his neighbourhood), girls aged five to seven,” he said.
Kumar said the three children and two babies rescued were now under the care of the welfare department. The suspect is being investigated under various provisions under the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
Five investigation papers were opened and were referred to the Attorney-General’s Chambers on Aug 21.
