Criminal ring busted for operating illegal pornography, gambling sites from overseas

Police said Wednesday they have busted a criminal ring suspected of creating and operating illegal pornography and gambling websites to rake in several tens of billions of won.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said two key members of the ring, aged 40 and 36, respectively, have been arrested and referred to the prosecution on charges of distributing child sexual exploitation materials, among other offenses.

The police agency also said it was investigating about 10 accomplices, including the ring leader and manager who are believed to be staying abroad.

The suspects are accused of systematically operating 18 illegal gambling websites and two pornography websites from Pasay City, Philippines, and other locations since August 2019.

They initially attracted users to their pornography sites, which distributed child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials and illegally filmed content, before recruiting gambling members by placing advertisements for their gambling sites on the pornography sites.

The total amount wagered on the gambling sites over approximately five years was estimated at 4.7 trillion won ($3.32 billion), while the police estimate the suspects made about 47.6 billion won in profits from the operations.

The two illegal pornography sites hosted about 116,000 videos, had 2.85 million registered accounts and recorded a cumulative 5.35 billion views, the police said.

The 40-year-old suspect was in charge of operating the illegal sites in the Philippines, while the 36-year-old suspect, who holds a doctorate degree in computer engineering, was responsible for the sites' overall development, management, maintenance and repair. The 40-year-old was arrested while attempting to enter Korea on Aug. 2, while the 36-year-old was arrested at his home in Korea on Aug. 3.