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Date: 31/10/2007
Location: Burnhope and Pelton, County Durham
Police from Durham Constabulary pulled over a vehicle that had been identified as having no insurance. When officers started questioning the two male passengers of the car, further enquiries were made which led police to execute search warrants at both of their houses in Burnhope and Pelton, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham. The subsequent raids uncovered an estimated 30,000 discs comprising music, films, TV series, and computer games.
A male was stopped by Northumbria Police for appearing to be driving without valid insurance for his vehicle. When told the vehicle would be searched the male advised there was a knife under the driver's seat. A search revealed this to be a 7" kitchen knife. The male was arrested and a subsequent search under PACE of his home address revealed a large quantity of counterfeit DVDs.
Associated crime types: Driving without Insurance and Offensive Weapons
In December 2005, a multi agency
operation involving FACT, South Tyneside Trading
Standards and Northumbria Police disrupted and
thwarted a group of individuals operating in a
well known local market. Covert surveillance revealed
that the perpetrators were using a second hand
stall to front their activities. The stall was
actually being used to sell counterfeit DVDs and
music as well as counterfeit and duty free cigarettes.
Simultaneous raids were carried
out on the market and the properties and vehicles
of the counterfeiters. Officers seized computers
and counterfeit DVDs along with counterfeit cigarettes.
A quantity of illegal drugs was found in the possession
of one of the market traders and in one of vehicles.
The investigation also uncovered
a large quantity of paperwork relating to sales
of counterfeit product over the internet. Investigators
traced the counterfeit DVD master copies back
to the Far East.
Associated crime types:
Counterfeit cigarettes and drugs
