Two people have been detained by police as investigations intensify into a local pornography ring which has circulated hundreds of nude photos of women and teenagers online.
The T&T Guardian was told by sources that the men, who were detained on Wednesday, are connected to a cyber cafe in the Valsayn area.
Investigators received information that it is from there that the photos may have been uploaded and sold to various porn sites locally, regionally and internationally.
So far, however, only a few of the victims have come forward and investigators are calling on more victims, if not all, to seek them out and lodge statements.
A source said the officers were very mindful about the sensitivity of the case and had made special provisions for the victims, as all information will be kept in utmost confidentiality.
On June 15, nude photos of about 500 young women, including students from the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, were leaked on social media.
Police said some of the girls were as young as 15 when they were photographed in the nude, others in their 20s. Those photographs were being sold to porn sites, locally, regionally and internationally.
Police believe that this latest scandal is linked to a local pornography ring which has been operating for the past six years.
The T&T Guardian has been reliably informed that there are about 12 young men involved in the ring. Some of the young men reside in the Valsayn area and the mastermind is said to be the son of a prominent businessman from the San Juan area.
The young men reportedly befriended young women, including teenagers, UWI students and professionals, in a bid to gain a level of trust, then got them to seductively pose in the nude to be photographed.
Some of the young women were taken to an apartment in St Augustine, a stone's throw away from the UWI campus, where they were seduced into stripping and posing for the photographs. Others were taken to other apartments located in the Curepe area.
The young men are also said to be ace hackers of computers and other smart devices. It is believed they hacked into phones, Facebook accounts and emails and stole personal photos and videos of young women either posing nude or involved in sex acts.
The photographs were then uploaded and subsequently sold online, while some were downloaded onto flashdrives and distributed among the group, who also peddled them to individuals, including businessmen and visitors to T&T.