At the request of the US, Col Jirapop assisted in the arrest of Maxsim Shynkarenko, who had fled to Phuket after a US court issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of distributing child pornography via the internet for profit.
In the culmination of a three-year investigation in the US, Shynkarenko was indicted in 2008 on one count of conspiracy to transport and ship child pornography; 16 counts of transportation and shipment of child pornography; one count of conspiracy to advertise child pornography; 12 counts of advertising child pornography; one count of engaging in child exploitation enterprise; and one count of money laundering
Col Jirapop arrested Shynkarenko in January 2009 at a rented house in Chalong. Shynkarenko then spent three years fighting extradition. He lost, and was handed over to the US.
In August 2012, Shynkarenko, labelled by US authorities as “the most significant distributor of child pornography ever prosecuted in the US”, was arraigned and in January this year he pleaded guilty. In April he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Bryan McPherson, Regional Attaché of US Homeland Security Investigations, presented Col Jirapop with a certificate of recognition at Tourist Police HQ in Bangkok.