Malaysian police have arrested a 29-year-old man suspected to be the mastermind of a paedophile ring that specialised in sexually abusing babies and young children, recording the acts and selling the videos via the Telegram app and the dark web.
Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director M Kumar said the suspect was arrested on July 19 in Johor under Ops Pedo, a month-long operation conducted between July 19 and August 19 involving the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) Sexual, Women and Children Crime Investigation Division, the Malaysia Internet Crime Against Children (MICAC) unit, and international agencies.
According to Bernama, the suspect used Facebook to look for posts offering babies for adoption. He then dealt with birth mothers by paying RM1,500 to RM3,500 in cash, including covering maternity hospital bills. Police revealed a seized birth certificate where the suspect was registered as the baby’s father, showing that the birth mothers were cared for until legal certificates were issued by the National Registration Department (NRD).
Kumar said the suspect then gained legal custody of the babies as his adopted children. Police further discovered he targeted unsupervised children in his neighbourhood, with at least three victims aged between five and seven.
So far, ten individuals have been arrested to assist investigations: two local women, two Indonesian men, four Indonesian women, a Myanmar man and a Suluk woman aged 25 to 60. Items seized from the suspect’s house included birth certificates, maternity record books, identification cards, unfilled NRD forms, laptops and mobile phones.
The three children and two babies rescued are now under the care of the Social Welfare Department. The suspect is being investigated under Sections 5, 14(a) and 14(d) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017. Kumar added that five investigation papers have been opened and referred to the Attorney-General’s Chambers on August 21.
