8 teens, teacher among 53 arrested in Ops Pedo

In a nationwide police operation earlier this month, 53 individuals were arrested in Malaysia on suspicion of involvement with child sexual abuse material (CSAM). According to Bukit Aman criminal investigation department director M Kumar, eight of those arrested were children aged between 13 and 17, comprising seven boys and a girl.

The department director added that some of the teenagers were believed to have produced animated sexual content for sale online. The operation, dubbed Ops Pedo, involved joint efforts by the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and targeted 92 locations, resulting in 53 arrests. Of the 53 arrested, 52 were Malaysians, while one was a Bangladeshi national.

Police seized 540,127 files containing CSAM and 113,066 adult pornography files during the operation. Two civil servants, a teacher and a school laboratory assistant, were also among those arrested, but they had no connection to the eight children. As of September 21, 23 suspects had been charged in court, while the remaining 29 are still under investigation.