Police in Singapore have arrested 11 men as part of a major international crackdown on online child sexual exploitation, which has seen more than 300 individuals detained across seven countries.
The four-week operation, conducted between March 23 and April 17, involved law enforcement agencies from Singapore, Brunei, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand. Authorities carried out raids at 382 locations, resulting in 326 arrests across the region.
According to the Singapore Police Force (SPF), another 119 individuals, including 16 in Singapore, are currently assisting with ongoing investigations.
Those arrested and investigated comprise 430 men and 15 women, aged between 12 and 72, with authorities seizing a large volume of electronic devices and illicit materials during the raids.
Items recovered include 116 computers, 340 mobile phones, 25 tablets, 140 storage devices and 16 routers, along with child sexual abuse material and obscene content.
Police said such crimes are often enabled through online platforms and cross-border financial transactions, stressing the importance of collaboration with technology companies, financial institutions and NGOs.
In Singapore, the 11 arrested men are aged between 22 and 44 and are suspected of offences including possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, sexual communication with minors, involvement in commercial sex-related offences involving minors, threats to distribute intimate images, and possession of obscene content.
Early investigations revealed that eight of the suspects had knowingly accessed, downloaded and stored illegal material via online messaging apps and peer-to-peer services.
In one case, two men aged 26 and 28 were investigated for making cross-border payments to access obscene material through a Telegram channel, following intelligence shared by Malaysian authorities.
In another case, a man arrested in March was found to possess material involving two victims of sexual exploitation, believed to have been abused by an offender overseas through an online platform. The case was uncovered through a referral from a non-governmental organisation.
Authorities also discovered additional material linked to a potential victim on his devices, and investigations are still ongoing.
Singapore police confirmed they are working closely with international counterparts to track down offenders operating across borders.
Under Singapore law, those convicted of producing child abuse material may face up to 10 years in jail, fines, or caning, while possession or access to such material carries penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment, fines, or caning.
