UAE arrests and extradites suspected child abuser to Philippines, officials say

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Filipino man suspected of abusing more than 100 children in the Philippines with his gang by selling their nude photos online, including photos of children raped by his accomplices, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates and flown back to Manila on Thursday, officials said.

Philippine Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos and his colleagues received the suspect, a computer expert, from authorities in Dubai and escorted him back to Manila.

UAE authorities arrested the suspect after the Philippines filed an Interpol Red Notice, which reports people considered fugitives to law enforcement agencies worldwide, Philippine police officials said.

“For those who callously abuse minors, the message is clear: There is no safe haven for you. Wherever you go, you will eventually run afoul of the law,” Abalos said in a statement.

He called the suspect, identified as Teddy Mejia, “a notorious and ruthless child trafficker.”

The suspect and his gang would lure girls aged 9 to 11 by sending them 500 pesos ($9) in exchange for their facial photos, Abalos said. He would then manipulate the image to appear naked and use that to blackmail the victims into providing more compromising photos, which were sold online to foreign customers.

“Some of the victims were raped and filmed during the attack and those materials were also sold,” Abalos told The Associated Press by telephone. “It’s really despicable.”

Some victims were blackmailed and became so desperate that they committed suicide, said Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil, chief of the Philippine National Police.

The online sexual exploitation of children has bloomed in the Philippines because of poverty and the wide availability of Internet connections, Marbil said.

Brig. Gen. Portia Manalad, director of the National Police’s Women and Children Protection Center, said authorities launched an investigation in May last year after several victims sought help and provided details about the online activities of the suspect and at least six other members of his criminal network.

Investigators identified at least 111 victims. About 30, who were tracked down by law enforcement officials, mostly from provincial areas, provided statements that allowed Philippine authorities to file criminal complaints against the suspects and obtain arrest warrants, Manalad said.

Four suspects were arrested in the Philippines in recent months before Mejia, the suspected leader of the syndicate, was tracked down and arrested in the UAE, Manalad said.

Abalos and Philippine police officers handed over a handcuffed Mejia, whose face was covered, to reporters at Manila International Airport.

“We tracked him down through the online money trail,” Manalad told The AP without elaborating.