"One of the encouraging aspects of Operation Blue Orchid was the extent to which law enforcement agencies on opposite ends of the globe worked so closely together," said U.S. Customs Acting Commissioner Charles Winwood at a well-attended Customs press event held on March 26. "There really are no borders when it comes to our mutual interest in protecting children."

The Web site
The Blue Orchid Web site, which operated between March and October 2000, promoted four collections of child pornography videotapes and CD-ROMs. The "Thief's Punishment" series, which was made for Blue Orchid in December 1999, contained two videos that depicted the forcible rape and physical abuse of a 15-year-old boy. Three other collections available for purchase were titled "Russian Flowers," "Girls," and "Man and Boy."

These videos sold for $300 each or two for $580. Customers from 15 different countries purchased one or more videos or CD-ROMs. Most of these customers were traced back to the United States. Some customers were secondary distributors who copied the videos and then sold them to their clients.

The investigation
The investigation into the Blue Orchid Web site evolved from two previous child pornography cases that were conducted by the Moscow City Police, Criminal Investigation Division, and the Customs Attaché's Office in Moscow. These two cases laid the foundation of the mutual respect and cooperation between U.S. Customs and the Moscow City Police.

In May 2000, an informant from the second child pornography case told the Moscow City Police about the Blue Orchid Web site. The Moscow City Police asked the U.S. Customs Attaché's Office in Moscow for assistance in identifying unknown Russians who were linked to the Web site.

"I told the Moscow City Police that U.S. Customs would buy a video from the Web site to bust these guys," explains Marshall Heeger, Assistant U.S. Customs Attaché in Moscow. "When we proceeded to work together, I immediately contacted the Customs CyberSmuggling Center in Fairfax, Va., where the undercover purchase from the Blue Orchid Web site occurred."

After the undercover buy, analysts at the CyberSmuggling Center sent investigative information to the U.S. Customs Attaché office in Moscow. Moscow City Police used this vital data to identify and apprehend Vsevolod Solntsev-Elbe, who was the creator and business manager of Blue Orchid.

In December 2000, the Moscow City Police captured Elbe when he returned to his home with a 13-year-old boy. The boy was identified as a frequent victim in the "Russian Flowers" series.

When the Moscow City Police detained Elbe, he gave up Sergey Garbko, Blue Orchid webmaster. That same night, when the police searched Elbe's residence, they found child pornography master tapes, copy tapes, video equipment, Blue Orchid business records, and his pager, but no computer.

The business records revealed almost 80 clients, including 22 individuals who lived in the United States. U.S. Customs Moscow Attaché's Office forwarded the names of the identified individuals to the appropriate domestic and foreign Customs field offices to start their own investigations.

After Garbko paged Elbe with a message that he was in the hospital, Moscow City Police officers Eduard Lapatik and Yuri Ponomarenko, and Customs Attaché investigator Sergey Kishkinsky, searched all the area hospitals until they found Garbko.

Upon their return to Moscow, Kishkinsky and Customs Attaché Michael Woodworth assisted Lapatik and Ponomarenko in the search of Garbko's residence, where they found a computer revealing every client and address. U.S. Customs forwarded all the information to the appropriate field offices in the United States.

In February 2001, the Moscow City Police identified the 15-year-old boy in the "Thief's Punishment" series and brought him to Moscow for questioning. The boy identified Victor Razumov as the man who raped and abused him in the videos. Based on the boy's testimony, Razumov was arrested for forcible sexual assault. Razumov is currently awaiting trial, and if convicted, he faces 8-10 years in prison.

That same month the Moscow City Police identified Aleksei Tormazov who was another actor in the "Thief's Punishment" videos. Tormazov was in a Siberian prison camp for murder, and he was brought back to Moscow to face charges of forcible sexual assault.

Because Russian law does not distinguish between child and adult pornography, Garbko and Elbe face a prison term of no more than two years for the production and distribution of child pornography. A new Russian law allows criminals who face charges of two years or less to go free until their trials begin, which includes pedophiles such as Garbko and Elbe.

The enforcement multiplier
The United States and other countries began their own investigations of Blue Orchid customers. Approximately 50 leads were sent to U.S. Customs Attaché's Offices around the world. From the Blue Orchid investigation, enforcement actions have been completed in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Currently, investigations are underway in a number of other European countries.

On the U.S. home front, Customs, along with other U.S. officials, pursued leads. One customer in particular was identified as Glenn Martikean of Portage, Ind.

An informant told Eduard Lapatik, head of the Criminal Investigation Division, Moscow City Police, that Martikean planned to arrive at the Intourist Hotel in Moscow on January 24, 2001, and that Martikean needed an interpreter.

An undercover Russian detective, who posed as the interpreter, went with the informant to Martikean hotel room. Over the course of the next several days, Martikean revealed that he had traveled to Russia to have sex with boys. The U.S. Customs Attaché's Office provided this information to the SAIC Office in Chicago.

On January 26, 2001, Martikean arranged to have a 12-year-old boy brought to his hotel room. The Moscow City Police arranged for hotel security to remove the boy from the room. The boy was then turned over to Moscow City Police for questioning. During the interview with the boy, they learned that the boy was 14 years old. Because the age of consensual sex in Russia is 14 years, Martikean did not violate Russian law.

At the same time, back in Portage, Ind., U.S. Customs Chicago SAIC agents searched Martikean residence. Among the items seized were a Blue Orchid CD-ROM and its installation instructions.

The next day, Martikean told the undercover policeman that U.S. Customs searched his home, and that he did not want to go back to the United States. The quick-thinking and clever policeman told Martikean about another American pedophile (Heeger, undercover) who was living in Moscow.

On January 29, 2001, Martikean met Heeger, who was posing as a pedophile from California. Heeger convinced Martikean that it was safe for him to return home to collect his belongings and then travel to Canada before heading back to Russia. "Martikean was desperate, he needed a friend and a plan, and to him I was that person," explains Heeger.

On January 31, 2001, Martikean and Heeger flew to Chicago O'Hare Airport. U.S. Customs special agents and local task force officers followed them to Indiana, and then stopped them right before they arrived at Martikean's home in Portage.

Martikean was indicted on three counts of travel with intent to have sex with a minor, along with three counts of possession, distribution, and receipt of child pornography. He currently is awaiting trial.

The U.S.-Russian investigation demonstrated the powerful impact of international collaboration toward a common objective. Now and in the future, joint efforts will be critical because of the transnational nature of cyber-based criminals. "Without the cooperation of our Moscow colleagues, Blue Orchid could never have developed into such an international cooperative success," says Heeger.

The sobering facts Online child pornography is a global problem. With the advent of the personal computer and the Internet, individuals can easily transmit child pornography in seconds to all corners of the world. Here are some facts about child pornography and the Internet: An estimated 100,000 Web sites are involved in some way with child pornography. International Internet trafficking of child pornography is proliferating at an alarming rate. Since January 2000, the U.S. Customs CyberSmuggling Center in Fairfax, Va., has reviewed more than 10,000 tips. Internet related child exploitation is relatively new. Unfortunately, it has been the driving force behind the resurgence of child pornography. Pedophiles often use the very latest computer encryption software to encrypt their photographs or put them in a code that can only be read with special software. Child pornography images can be downloaded onto a computer and sent over the Internet to anywhere in the world.

Do you know where your children are? Train your child to never give away his/her real name, phone number, home address, or e-mail address to anyone on the Internet without parental permission. Put any computer with Internet access in a central area of the house where it can be easily monitored. Find out who your child's online buddies are. Review your child's Internet activities by checking the computer's bookmarks, cache, or history to find out what your child is accessing. Consider using filtering software that will assist in blocking inappropriate content. Blocking software is only as good as the company that makes it. Help sites like Get Net Wise have search engines that let you see if a company publishes criteria for filtering, a list of filtered sites, and the key words it uses to block unwanted material. If you believe someone is trying to exploit your child, call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1 (800) 843-5678; send an e-mail to cybertipline.com; or visit the Missing and Exploited Children Web site. Since the center launched its CyberTipline in March 1998, it has analyzed some 37,000 reports on child exploitation.

Customs needs your help Because there is no easy formula for discovering and identifying a consumer or purveyor of child pornography, U.S. Customs needs your help. If you have information about or suspect this type of illegal activity, contact: U.S. Customs Service: 1 (800) BE-ALERT National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (Cyber Tipline): 1 (800) 843-5678

Fast facts on Customs CyberSmuggling Center Located in Fairfax, Va., the Customs CyberSmuggling Center, part of the Office of Investigations, is one of the Customs Service's major detective tools, surpassed only by the agency's human talent, to investigate international criminal activity conducted on, or aided by, the Internet. It opened for business in October 2000. Taking advantage of the center's cutting-edge hardware and software, cybersmuggling agents investigate, and solve, cases involving: international child pornography; international money laundering; offshore computer banking; drug trafficking, including the illegal distribution of legal medications like prescription drugs and steroids; violations of intellectual property rights, including music and computer software; illegal arms trafficking and the export of strategic, high-tech commodities; and stolen art and antiquities. Customs employees and the public can report Internet-related crimes to the center at: Phone: (703) 293-8005 Fax: (703) 293-9127 E-mail: C3@customs.treas.gov