Three Organizers of Internet Child Porn Ring Arrested in Belarus, Official Says

Three organizers of a child pornography ring operating via the Internet have been arrested in Belarus in an international police operation, Andrey Miklashevich, deputy chief of the Belarusian interior ministry's cyber crime prevention department, said at a news conference on Friday.

Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians were involved in the ring that was selling access to more than 270 sites featuring indecent images of children.

The international investigation, which started in June 2007 at the proposal of the Belarusian police, is continuing.

More than 10 people suspected of creating and distributing Internet child pornography were spotted during the operation.

The three, grabbed at the beginning of this year, were charged under Part 3 of the Belarusian Criminal Code's 343 with distribution of child pornography.

According to Mr. Miklashevich, the Belarusian police seized the database of the ring's customers that included more than 60,000 credit card numbers and user accounts, including more than 34,000 based in the United States, some 5,000 in Germany, 2,500 in the United Kingdom, more than 2,000 in Canada and France, and 1,500 in Australia.

Posing as customers, FBI officers helped Belarusian counterparts collect evidence by recording undercover purchases of pornography materials, Mr. Miklashevich said.

The server of the billing system was reportedly located in the United States. //BelaPAN