IPOH: The police will be intensifying operations to capture those who possess, store and distribute child sexual abuse material (CSAM) under Op Pedo Bersepadu PDRM-MCMC.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the operation, involving Bukit Aman's Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division (D11) and the Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), would continue until the offenders are nabbed.
He said police were in the midst of identifying even more suspects.
"We will continue our efforts to identify and track down those involved, including those who possess or promote pornographic content.
"The operation, conducted jointly with MCMC, will be intensified to track down even more people suspected of being linked to CSAM," he said after officiating at the closing ceremony of the Criminal Investigation Department's Future Leaders Programme 2024 at Empangan Sultan Azlan Shah here.
On Op Pedo Bersepadu PDRM-MCMC, he said the majority of those detained said they didn't know that possessing, storing and distributing obscene material and CSAM was an offence.
He dismissed the excuse as "illogical", as the authorities had on numerous occasions issued statements that it was a criminal act.
"We are not dismissing the possibility that these heinous acts are limited only in the six states of the operation," he said.
On Dec 23, police and MCMC mounted a massive joint operation across Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor, Terengganu, Penang and Perak to detain those suspected of possessing and distributing CSAM.
The raids, which saw the authorities descending on 18 homes in affluent neighbourhoods, as well as middle and low-cost areas, led to the arrest of 13 suspects.
The ages of those arrested ranged between 20 and 74.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said the raids resulted in the seizure of 40,000 CSAM and pornographic content from computers, cell phones and external hard disks.
The crackdown followed surveillance and undercover work by the police, supported by intelligence provided by MCMC.
The raiding parties also comprised personnel from Bukit Aman's Forensic Laboratory Division (D10), Technical Assistance Division (D6) and Criminal Investigation Department.
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.
On Friday, an engineer from Penang was the first of the 13 suspects to be charged with two counts of possession of child pornography.
The Balik Pulau magistrate's court fined him RM6,000 after he pleaded guilty.
Prior to the raids, the New Straits Times ran a series of reports on the rampant sale of locally produced explicit content, including CSAM, on social media and messaging platforms.
The NST's investigation also showed how CSAM was sold for as cheap as RM1 per video, raising concerns among parents over the safety of their children.