A computer science student at a Johannesburg university arrested by police yesterday had 1‚000 child porn images on his external hard drive‚ police say.

The raid on the student’s home in Melville was carried out by a specialised team of investigators from the South African Police Service’s Family Violence‚ Child Protection‚ and Sexual Offences Unit in Gauteng.

This latest arrest is part of the team’s Cloud 9 operation‚ which is investigating the South African wing of the paedophile ring which has members all over the world. These rings have software that enables them to share images of child pornography with each other.

Police said the student‚ aged 20‚ was identified through the account of another suspect who was arrested in Plettenberg Bay‚ Western Cape‚ early this year.

Police also seized a laptop‚ a cellphone‚ seven USBs and one external hard drive.

He has been granted R5‚000 bail pending his next court appearance.

Seven people in SA have now been arrested by the Cloud 9 investigation team – the previous six involving one suspect each in Plettenberg Bay‚ Midrand‚ Pennington‚ Scottburgh and two in Port Elizabeth.

Criminal proceedings in all of these cases are still continuing.

The SAPS said their investigators were hot on the trail of other suspects: “It is evident that this crime has no boundaries and we want to warn people of South Africa to not allow themselves to be caught in this vicious web. We are gaining momentum in tracking those involved in this crime and let this serve as a warning that it is only a matter of time before you are arrested”.