2 men arrested after Italy passes info to SPF over Telegram child abuse syndicate
Two men have been arrested in Singapore for possessing or gaining access to child abuse material, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) has said.
The arrests came after a syndicate that shared the illicit material over Telegram was busted in Italy.
Source: Singapore Police Force on Facebook. Photo for illustration purposes only.
Arrests based on info from Italy police
In response to queries from MS News, SPF confirmed that the arrests were based on information it had received from the Italian authorities.
According to a statement from the Italian police on Thursday (17 Sept), they had been investigating an international criminal organisation based in the country that distributed child sexual abuse material online.
It started in 2024 when Homeland Security Investigations, a United States government agency, tipped off the Italian authorities.
The subsequent operation named “Fly Trap” involved an undercover officer infiltrating the network by earning the trust of its administrators, then gaining access to its private channels.
Source: @poliziadistato on X
Telegram child abuse group had over 1,000 users
From there, the Italian authorities uncovered a Telegram community named New Saga that had more than 1,000 users worldwide.
It required users to make payments in cryptocurrency to get access, or provide new material.
The network was structured like a multinational company and run by four Italians and a Swiss national, who used a confidential channel named “Hall of Kings” for internal communications.
17 arrested in Italy, 283GB of child abuse materal seized
So far, 17 people have been arrested in Italy.
About 283GB of illicit material has been seized, including more than 22,000 videos and 34,000 images.
Source: @poliziadistato on X
The Italian authorities also identified 996 accounts from other countries and shared the information with the authorities of these countries.
Men face jail & fine or caning if convicted
SPF said the two arrested men, aged 27 and 33, are suspected of the offence of possessing or gaining access to child abuse material.
It did not specify the nationality of the men, or whether they knew each other.
Under Section 377BK of the Penal Code 1871, it is an offence to possess or gain access to child abuse material knowing or having reason to believe that the material is child abuse material.
Those convicted face up to five years in prison, and a fine or caning.
Police investigations are ongoing.
Also read: S’porean man found with over 1,200 photos & videos of child abuse, gets 22 months’ jail
S’porean man found with over 1,200 photos & videos of child abuse, gets 22 months’ jail
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Featured image adapted from Singapore Police Force on Facebook and @poliziadistato on X. Photo on the left for illustration purposes only.
