Latest News / Archive - January 2007

4th January 2007

MAJOR PIRATE FACTORY IN SOUTH-EAST LONDON RAIDED

Four men have been arrested in Thamesmead, south east London, following the discovery of a ‘factory’ making counterfeit DVDs worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

It happened around 12.30 pm, Wednesday 3rd January. Two Bexley Police officers were walking down Redbourne Road, Thamesmead, when they saw two men coming out of one of the houses.

Believing there was something suspicious about their behaviour, the officers spoke to the men and noticed another man open the front door and then close it again quickly.

The officers called for back up; also police dogs and police helicopter attended to help search the area as other men were seen leaving the house through the back garden. The men are being questioned at a south London police station.

Inside the house, a town style house on three floors, officers found an estimated number of 30,000 discs, which would sell for three to five pounds on the street. The contents of the discs include recently released films still on general release and pornographic material.

There was also equipment capable of burning over 1000 DVDs in one hour and an assortment of other equipment for copying and packaging DVDs.

DS Nigel Tolson of Bexley CID said: “There is no doubt that this ordinary three bedroomed house in a quiet street was being run as an illegal operation. Thanks to the sharp eyes and alertness of three police constables, this operation has been uncovered and closed down.”

Kieron Sharp, Director General of the Federation Against Copyright Theft said: "This was a major factory and its discovery will cause some serious disruption to piracy in the London area. Film piracy has proven links to organised crime and the scale of this operation shows the level of investment by criminal networks in this type of crime."  

top of page

30th January 2007

DURHAM AND NOTTINGHAM RAIDS TARGET ILLEGAL MARKETS

FACT investigators, working with law enforcement, have successfully targeted pirate DVD sellers operating at illegal markets in Durham and Nottingham.

The raid in Durham was a joint intelligence led operation with Durham Constabulary targeting known sellers of counterfeit DVDs who set up stalls on the outskirts of the weekly Tanfield Lea car boot sale. Eight men and a woman were arrested and interviewed at local police stations and have been bailed to return in eight weeks. In addition, seven vehicles were removed from the site by police officers and were searched. The vehicles were later returned to their owners.

The raid in Nottingham was a joint intelligence led operation with Nottinghamshire Trading Standards and Nottinghamshire Police aimed at prolific sellers of pirate DVDs on an illegal market operating on the fringes of the Hucknall Sunday market. Follow-up searches at four houses led to the seizure of a large quantity of pirate music CDs and computer equipment as well as thousands of blank DVDs and printed inlay cards. Seven men were arrested and have been bailed to appear in March.

Kieron Sharp, FACT Director General, said: “Working with Police and Trading Standards across the UK we aim to disrupt and dismantle pirate DVD trading, whether that be in car boot sales, in markets or online. The manufacture and selling of counterfeit film product is illegal and contributes to crime in the local community. Film piracy also feeds hundreds of millions of pounds a year into organised crime networks and has associations with other serious criminal activity.”

Nichola Schofield, Team Leader for Special Projects at Nottinghamshire Trading Standards, added: “By sharing intelligence and adopting a multi-agency approach we are able to better target and apprehend those involved in such criminal activity across the county.”

top of page