KUALA LUMPUR: A police operation targeting the distribution of online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has led to the arrest of 31 suspects, including a 12-year-old boy.
Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail said at a press conference in Bukit Aman on Friday (Oct 24) that the arrests were made during raids conducted nationwide from Sept 22 to Sept 30 under the Ops Pedo 2.0 operation.
“From our 37 targets, we arrested 31 suspects, comprising 25 main targets and six follow-up arrests.
“All the suspects are male, aged between 12 and 71, and come from various backgrounds including teachers, engineers, cooks, students and retirees.
“One of those arrested, a 17-year-old, recorded profits of about RM76,000 within nine months. This shows a worrying decline in moral values,” he said.
He added that 17 suspects have been charged in court, while 14 were released on police bail.
A total of 82 devices were seized during the operations.
“Investigations uncovered over 880,000 digital files containing CSAM and adult pornography—20 times more than the 40,000 files found during Ops Pedo 1.0 in December 2024,” he said.
He said 29 investigation papers had been opened, with 15 cases already brought to court.
“Of these, 15 suspects pleaded guilty and were fined between RM1,000 and RM10,000, while two others will face trial,” he said.
Police found that the modus operandi involved buying and selling the materials through social media platforms, with payments made via e-wallets and QR-code banking.
“Strict and uncompromising action will be taken against anyone who sells their dignity and endangers the safety of children,” he said.
