Alleged porno operators caught in FBI 'sting'

FBI agents fanned out across the nation Thursday to arrest 54 persons in an undercover investigation of pornography and film pirating. It was the FBI's third major "sting" operation disclosed in two weeks.

The indictments, returned by a grand jury in Miami, name 45 alleged top officials of the pornography industry, four of whom were also charged with being involved in film pirating. None others were indicted on pirating charges.

FBI Director William Webster said the indictments resulted from a 2 1/2-year investigation in which two bureau agents infiltrated the pornography industry until they reached the top levels of the underworld hierarchy.