WASHINGTON — In a joint operation, the United States and Russia have shut down a Moscow-based international pornography ring that used the Internet to sell videotapes of children engaged in sexual acts, authorities said Monday.
Law enforcement officials arrested nine people, including four in the United States, and issued 15 search warrants--two in Southern California--as a result of the investigation by the U.S. Customs Service and Moscow city police.
The probe was dubbed Operation Blue Orchid, after the studio in Russia where many of the videotapes were made. A Web site of the same name allegedly advertised the tapes, which were distributed through the mail. Most of the tapes, which cost between $200 and $300, were shipped to the U.S., authorities said.
"There is no crime more revolting to law enforcement officials than the sexual exploitation of children," said Acting U.S. Customs Commissioner Charles Winwood.
The prevalence of child pornography has increased dramatically with the growth of the Internet. There are approximately 100,000 Web sites worldwide associated with child pornography, authorities said.
"Child pornography is the biggest illicit business on the Internet," said Kevin Delli-Colli, director of the U.S. Customs Service's CyberSmuggling Center in Fairfax, Va.
Most Web sites associated with child pornography offer options of downloading and exchanging digital pictures for free or for a fee, authorities said.
But the Blue Orchid site--which was shut down in December--promoted and sold its own videos, officials said.
Blue Orchid customers would first wire cash to Russia, then e-mail the Web site with instructions on where to ship the video.
The videotapes were often disguised in National Geographic video sleeves and featured a brief introduction of an actual National Geographic film before pornographic scenes would appear.
The company also offered custom-made videos for $5,000, officials said.
The investigation began in May, when Russian officials asked U.S. Customs officials to go undercover and purchase one of the videos in a sting operation. That led to the arrest of Vsevolod Solntsev-Elbe, who officials said ran the site. Elbe was arrested while he was with a 13-year-old boy whom he allegedly brought to Moscow from a destitute Russian town for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
