LYON, France – The man photographed sexually abusing young children in Vietnam and Cambodia (Vico) in images posted on the Internet has been identified following a massive global response to INTERPOL’s appeal and is now believed to be in Thailand.
As a result of information provided to INTERPOL by five different sources from three continents, the suspected child abuser labelled 'Vico,' was identified as a man teaching English at a school in South Korea.
Within three days of the appeal, working with its National Central Bureaus around the world INTERPOL had also established the suspect's name, nationality, date of birth, passport number, and current and previous places of work.
Intense investigative support from authorities in South Korea and the Kingdom of Thailand revealed that the man flew from Seoul to Bangkok International Airport on Thursday, 11 October, with security cameras documenting his arrival at immigration at 15h26. This image is today being made publicly available by INTERPOL as part of police efforts to locate him.
'Thailand is at the centre of an international manhunt, and authorities in the country, in co-operation with INTERPOL and police around the world, are hunting him down,' said Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.
'The response and contribution we have had from the public has been remarkable, as has the support from the media, which has enabled officers in our specialised unit, our office in Bangkok and police in other member countries to make such remarkable progress in such a short space of time.
'We must once again enlist the public’s support, this time to pinpoint Vico’s current location.'
Police services and prosecutors in the involved countries are continuing to collect and analyse evidence in order to bring charges against ‘Vico’ as soon as possible.
More than 350 people worldwide contacted INTERPOL in response to its appeal for assistance for Operation Vico when it became clear that without the public’s help, the man pictured sexually abusing 12 different young boys in Vietnam and Cambodia in a series of around 200 images could otherwise not be identified.
'This case clearly underlines the central role which could only be achieved by INTERPOL with its network of 186 member countries, and also highlights the giant step forward in global communications among INTERPOL members,' added Secretary General Noble.
Anyone with information on the man’s current whereabouts is asked to contact their local police or INTERPOL via its website, www.interpol.int