KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — Four local men have been arrested in Malaysia as part of a global operation targeting child sexual abuse material (CSAM), the police said today.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the suspects included a civil servant, an accountant, a web designer, and an IT instructor.
“Their modus operandi involved using electronic devices to access CSAM online through P2P networks. Some of the suspects shared the material in Telegram groups, while others kept it for personal gratification.
“The illegal materials were downloaded and stored on hard drives, mobile phones, computers, laptops, and iPads,” he said in a press conference here.
The arrests followed coordinated raids from February 24 to March 28, focusing on suspects using peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms to access, store, and share illicit content.
Ayob said four investigation papers were opened under Section 292 of the Penal Code, with two cases already prosecuted in court.
One man in Petaling Jaya was fined RM3,000 after pleading guilty, while another in Shah Alam was fined RM6,000.
The remaining two cases are pending forensic analysis before further charges can be filed.
The operation was led by Singapore Police and involved law enforcement from six countries, including Malaysia, Thailand, and Japan.
Malaysia’s enforcement arm launched its local operation on March 20 with 46 officers, MCMC personnel, and K-9 units.
Ayob said dynamic IP addresses and the use of VPNs made tracking offenders difficult, and proposed legal amendments to require ISPs to store user data for at least three years.
““Most of the IP addresses provided were dynamic, meaning they frequently changed, which made the investigation difficult. Additionally, some suspects used VPNs to conceal their identities,” he said.
