2,062 nabbed for illegal filming, porn distribution

Police nabbed 2,062 people suspected of illegally filming women’s body parts and distributing pornography after a two-month special crackdown on online sex crimes.

Police detained 88 of the suspects, National Police Agency Chief Min Gap-ryong said Monday.

“(Police) cracked down on 99 pornographic websites that had servers overseas, and so it was not easy to track down the 55 suspects involved, detaining 21 of them,” Min said in a statement.

“(Police) raided 20 companies that run data storage businesses, nabbed the chiefs of six firms as well as 136 heavy uploaders who distributed pornographic materials through their websites, and detained nine of them.”

Police also worked with related government agencies to block access to 150 overseas pornographic websites by using their domain names instead of the URLs.

Police plan to reclaim criminal proceeds as part of efforts to root out the pornography distribution business.

“In order to redeem the criminal proceeds, we will request confiscation before indictment, and inform the National Tax Service of suspected tax evasion to eradicate the business system which profits through illegally filmed materials,” Min said.

Police will also investigate suspected online data storage cartels of firms that upload pornographic materials via the services, filtering agencies and “digital undertakers” that delete videos and images for them.

A two-day workshop on the cartels began Monday for police officers heading cyber investigation teams nationwide so they can share investigative methods and experience, Min said.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)