THE police will continue to act against those in possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), the country's top cop has warned, reported the New Straits Times.
"We will not hesitate to take stern action against all those who possess, distribute or produce such materials," said Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain.
"Claiming ignorance of the law will not help your case," he told the New Straits Times.
Earlier today, NST reported that police arrested 13 suspects in a series of raids at Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Johor and Terengganu.
The joint operation, codenamed "Op Pedo Bersepadu PDRM-MCMC" involved Bukit Aman's Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division (D11) and the Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
Over 40,000 CSAM and pornographic content from various devices were found during the raids.
"The operation involved 107 personnel involving police personnel as well as six from the MCMC.
"The personnel formed 18 teams consisting of various elements of the Criminal Investigation Departments D11 Division as well as Forensic Laboratory Division (D10) and Technical Assistance Division (D6) and conducted a simultaneous strike on 18 premises at the six states," he said.
"These 13 men arrested are aged between 20 and 74," he said, adding that police also seized seven computers, one laptop, 11 mobile phones, seven modems, nine routers, and a hard disc drive.
Razarudin said the suspects came from different backgrounds and professions.
"Our checks revealed one of the suspects was unemployed while the others worked as an account manager, electrical appliances shop worker, sales engineer, graphic designer, tailor, freelance videographer, e-hailing driver, travel operator, factory worker, farmer, welder and waiter.
"The arrests were made under Section 10 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act for accessing child pornography and Section 292 of the Penal Code for possession of obscene material," he said.
"We have obtained remand orders on 11 of these suspects for between one and four days.
"Two others have been released on police bail," he said.
Last week the New Straits Times ran a series of reports on the rampant sale of Malaysian-made explicit content, including CSAM, on social media and messaging platforms.
The NST's investigation also showed how CSAM content was being sold for as cheap as RM1 per video, raising concerns among parents over the safety of their children.
Bukit Aman's Sexual, Women and Child Investigations Division (D11) Principal Assistant Director, Senior Assistant Commissioner Siti Kamsiah Hassan had spoken on trends which showed that access to such pornography had made predators even more brazen, with some going to the extent of attempting to abduct children.
She also highlighted how easy access to pornographic content has led to severe addiction resulting in children, some as young as primary school pupils, becoming involved in creating and profiting from CSAM content.
The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had told the NST how cybercriminals trafficking in CSAM were exploiting advanced encryption technology to avoid arrest.
Malaysia, it said, has forged alliances with the FBI and other international entities to leverage real-time coordination of operations to shut down priority and high-impact targets. - December 24, 2024
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