Durban - Six South Africans have been arrested for links to an international child pornography ring after a series of raids across the country.
One man from KwaZulu-Natal man has been interviewed, and a decision to arrest him still had to be made, police said.
This forms part of a global investigation in which six men were arrested, including an Mpumalanga principal, two teachers in Gauteng, a dermatologist from Pretoria and a lawyer in North West.
Last weekend, police raided 15 properties in KZN, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Free State where they removed evidence of child pornography, including 672 DVDs, 22 memory sticks, eight laptops, two computer tablets, 39 external hard drives and 25 books.
A high ranking police source said investigation into the syndicate began in Jaunary this year, when they were tipped off by Canadian authorities.
The source said: “The investigation started in Canada. They have very stringent measures in place to monitor cyber crimes. Investigations revealed an international syndicate. The respective authorities were contacted in each country by the Canadian police and told to investigate.”
He said the SAPS cyber crimes unit were handed a website address that was being used by the syndicate members.
“All those who went on to the site were identified and profiled. Investigations are at a very sensitive stage.”
Spokesman for the SAPS, Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale, confirmed the KZN man had not been arrested although his laptop was confiscated. Makgale said the outcome of the investigation would determine whether he would be arrested.
The South African police were alerted by Interpol earlier this month to the investigation which has links to the UK, the US, Canada, Europe and Australasia.
A principal from a school in the Nelspruit area was arrested at his home on Thursday for possession of child pornography. He has appeared in court and was released on R1 000 bail.
The police are also investigating whether the children are from South Africa and what happened to them after being filmed.
The 49-year-old principal, who is also an award-winning author, lost his job after being arrested.
The school said it had reached a “mutual agreement” to terminate his contract in light of the allegations.
The two teachers who were arrested are from Florida, west of Johannesburg, and Carletonville, while the lawyer is from Lichtenburg.
A high-profile task team, overseen by Lt-Gen Vinesh Munoo, including the Gauteng family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit along with the cybercrime unit, are leading the investigation.
Makgale said the men, four aged 46, one aged 49 and one 63-year-old, had been charged with possession of child pornography.
“We suspect they may be involved in the manufacture and distribution as well.”
The six accused have not pleaded although they have appeared in court.
Makgale said it is believed some of the children depicted are from SA because of the involvement of those in the education field. He said police are working on tracking the children.
He described the pornography as “horrific” but said police are still busy with the investigation and cannot say, at this stage, how many children are involved.
“The investigation is continuing and we expect make more arrests soon,” said Makgale.
Daily News