The national police chief, Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, stated that on Monday, the police arrested 13 men suspected of online crimes involving Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) in the operation 'Op Pedo', including a 74-year-old senior citizen.
He said that these 13 individuals were arrested in a joint operation spanning six states: Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Perak, Johor, and Terengganu. The operation was conducted by the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
He informed Bernama that the operation started last night (23rd) at 9 PM, executed by 18 teams, including officers from Bukit Aman’s Sexual Crimes, Women, and Child Crime Investigation Division (D11), Technical Assistance Division (D6), Chemical Forensics Division (D10), and officials from the Communications Commission, investigating 18 locations across the six states.
“After examining the various Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices owned by the 13 suspects, approximately 40,000 pieces of child sexual abuse material and adult pornography were discovered.”
In addition, Acryl Sani mentioned that the police have seized 7 computers, 11 mobile phones, 9 routers, 7 modems, a laptop, a digital video disc, and a hard drive.
He said investigations have commenced under Section 10 of the 2017 Sexual Offences Against Children Act and Section 292 of the Penal Code (possession of obscene material) for all 13 cases.
He stated that 5 of the suspects have been remanded for 4 days, 4 for 3 days, 2 for 1 day, while the remaining 2 have been released on police bail.
He reminded the public, especially teenagers and children, to enhance self-restraint, uphold online moral boundaries and social etiquette, to avoid becoming victims of crimes, and report any misuse of the internet to the authorities.
“The police will not tolerate any form of criminal act and will take severe action against those engaging in criminal activities.”