Florida law enforcement has dismantled a vast international child pornography operation, recovering more than one million files depicting child sexual abuse, including content involving infants. The operation resulted in charges against eight individuals, with seven residing in Florida and one alleged mastermind based in Turkey, who orchestrated the horrific enterprise.
The investigation, conducted by Florida’s Statewide Prosecution and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), exposed a sophisticated dark web operation connected to Turkey. The alleged ringleader, Emre Bozuyuk, reportedly utilized compromised financial accounts for money laundering purposes. Investigators discovered that many perpetrators accessed this illegal content through TikTok.
At a Monday press conference, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, speaking as both a law enforcement official and father of three, expressed his revulsion, describing the perpetrators as “truly evil” and promising severe consequences. “Busting an international child pornography ring. We will be bringing charges against eight individuals this morning, seven of whom are Florida residents.
Florida authorities just busted an international child p**nography ring with over 1M videos of CSAM, including of babies.
Eight people are being charged.
"If you are a child predator, if you are one of these sick people, then I hope you never see the sun again!” – FL AG pic.twitter.com/ohXQkOJGzZ
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 7, 2025
As a dad of three little ones, it’s tough to talk about some of this stuff, but 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. Our investigators have been able to get their hands on over a million videos showing sexual abuse of minors. Many of these individuals were babies that are being sold around the world.
The 2023 National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports over 36 million instances of suspected child sexual exploitation and over 100 million files related to child sex abuse material. That’s only what’s getting reported. This continues to be a problem in our country, in our state. Protecting our kids is not an easy task to begin with. Today, with access to the Internet and social media, it allows these sick predators to more easily get access to our kids. As I’ve said, in my first five or six weeks on the job here, that’s going to be a major priority for my office. The individuals that are being busted today, that purchased this harmful content—many of them found it through TikTok. It was available online.
They found access to a portal where they could purchase this dangerous material. TikTok has shown they can very quickly get stuff off their website. If there’s unlicensed music or something going around, they’ve proven—with the flip of a switch—they can get it off. And it’s taken too long for them to get some of this pornographic material and avenues to purchase harder, more gross content.
‼️TRULY HEINOUS & SICK! NO LENIENCY‼️
7 Florida men were arrested, and a warrant is out for the arrest of a man from Turkey, in an international child pornography ring. They bought and sold over 1 Million images of child pornography online!
Florida’s AG: “There’s not a word in… pic.twitter.com/7XCzhlWIrO
— LionHearted (@LionHearted76) April 7, 2025
We’ve got to get them to be more accountable. We will be working on that. We are going to hold social media companies accountable that want to put our families and our kids in jeopardy. Today, these eight defendants are being charged with multiple felony counts, including RICO, money laundering, and purchase of child pornography. Again, I can’t tell you in words how gross this content is, but it shows the dangers—the evil—that’s out there. It is truly evil.
You’ve got my word that in this state, we are going to do everything we can to hold these people accountable. If you are a child predator, if you are one of these sick people, then I hope you never see the sun again, and I hope you certainly never have access to kids again.” The defendants face serious charges including racketeering, money laundering, and child pornography offenses.
The accused include Krunal Kumar Nareshbhai Modi from New Jersey and seven Florida residents: Frankie Piniero Jr., Brett Ryan Moore, Israel Cole Thompson, Brett Allen Snodderly, Jacob Ross Conly, Kody Vance Jordan Muti, and Michael Andrew Warren. Law enforcement has also issued warrants for Bozuyuk and Xiomara Del Real Maqueda in Oregon. Bozuyuk faces multiple charges including racketeering, money laundering, and various child exploitation offenses, while Maqueda is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
