A police raid shocked a luxury neighbourhood in Bayan Lepas, Penang, last night (December 23), where PDRM found multiple pornographic materials, some of which are suspected to be child sexual abuse materials (CSAM).
In an official statement by PDRM today (December 24), it was revealed that 13 Malaysian men, aged between 13 and 74, were arrested in a nationwide operation known as OP Pedo Bersepadu PDRM-MCMC, which also took place in Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Johor. One of the suspects was not embarrassed to tell the authorities why he had the materials with him.
“I like looking at kids because they’re fresh,” said the 40-year-old suspect, who was home alone during the raid as his wife and kids were overseas.
The suspect led the authorities to the second floor, which had two computers, and the police found over 2,000 pornographic materials on one of them.
The police inspected the man’s mobile phone and seized a computer, modem, and router. The suspect was brought to the Bayan Baru police station, and the case is being investigated under Section 10 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
The raid was carried out following a series of reports by the New Straits Times (NST) last week about the increasing sale of Malaysian-made pornographic content, including CSAM, on social media platforms and messaging apps.
In total, here’s what PDRM confiscated during the nationwide operation,
- 7 sets of computers
- 1 set of laptop
- 11 sets of mobile phones
- 16 units of modem and router
In a report by Berita Harian, The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informed NST that cybercriminals involved in CSAM trafficking are exploiting advanced encryption technology to avoid capture.
According to the FBI, Malaysia is collaborating with the agency and other international entities to leverage real-time operational coordination to shut down high-priority and high-impact targets.
