At least eight individuals are facing charges following the takedown of a massive international child pornography ring that involved more than 1.2 million images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, Florida officials announced Monday.
The suspects include the operation’s alleged ringleader based in Turkey, along with seven Florida residents accused of purchasing the illicit material. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier revealed details of the investigation at a news conference, calling the crimes “truly heinous.”
“What these guys were doing was truly heinous. There’s not a word in the English dictionary that can describe the gross content that was on the videos,” Uthmeier said.
The investigation, led by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), began in July 2024 and focused on individuals distributing child pornography online. Through a chat room, undercover agents discovered a website selling illegal content. For just $100, agents were able to purchase 6.7 terabytes of data—equivalent to 1.2 million images and videos.
Authorities said the content included identifiable children from the U.S., some of them babies, who were victims of human trafficking, sexual battery, and other crimes.
Uthmeier identified Mehmet Berk Bozuyuk, a resident of Turkey, as the primary distributor. Bozuyuk faces a long list of charges, including racketeering (RICO), conspiracy, money laundering, multiple counts of promoting and selling child pornography, out-of-state transmission, and use of communication devices to distribute obscene material.
Authorities are working to extradite Bozuyuk to Florida to face the charges.
Two others, Krunal Kumar Nareshbhai Modi of New Jersey and Xiomara Del Real Maqueda of Oregon, are accused of acting as money mules for the international network.
The seven Florida residents facing charges include individuals with prior offenses. One was already a registered sex offender serving a 20-year probation sentence for a previous child pornography case, while another was allegedly found with children’s underwear in his home.
Standing beside a poster of the suspects, FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass condemned the scale and depravity of the case.
“It is just evil, the faces you see there are faces of evil,” Glass said. “It’s evil and the sad part about [it] is there’s many more out there.”
Glass added that suspects in Canada and Ireland may also be linked to the operation, and the case remains under active investigation.
