KUALA LUMPUR, October 25 — Police have arrested 31 individuals, including a 12-year-old and several teachers, in a nationwide crackdown on an online network producing and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail said the joint operation, codenamed Op Pedo, uncovered over 880,000 digital files linked to CSAM during raids across 37 locations involving 206 officers from the Royal Malaysia Police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
Among those detained was a 17-year-old who reportedly earned RM76,000 in just nine months from selling explicit material online. The suspects, aged between 12 and 71, used platforms such as Telegram, WhatsApp, and Facebook to trade illegal content, with some acting as paid group administrators.
Mohd Khalid warned that the findings signal a dangerous trend of child exploitation turning into profit-driven crime, with 17 suspects already charged in court and investigations ongoing under multiple laws, including the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
